The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East fired 70 staff members working in Gaza on Friday following longstanding allegations from Israeli authorities that the agency has ties to Hamas.
"Today, the Commissioner-General ad interim of UNRWA, Christian Saunders, took the decision to terminate the employment of 70 UNRWA staff members in Gaza with immediate effect," the agency wrote in a statement. UNRWA said the decision was taken "to mitigate safety and security risks for the refugees the Agency serves under its mandate and for UNRWA personnel and premises."
The agency said the firings were not part of a disciplinary process. "The dismissal of the staff is not part of a disciplinary process and does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them," the statement read. UNRWA also said it has "repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information and evidence to substantiate allegations against individual UNRWA staff members in Gaza but has received no response to date."
The terminations followed a United States Agency for International Development investigation whose results were published on June 5. According to Fox News, the USAID investigation assessed that a number of UNRWA employees were deeply involved in Hamas civil society and military operations. More than 100 UNRWA staff members were referred for suspension or dismissal.
The investigation's findings included specific allegations, naming "a deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion, a deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion" and "a teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas." The investigation also identified school teachers and principals it claimed participated directly in Hamas's October 7 attacks.
Israel's military has maintained for months that UNRWA is directly tied to Hamas. In a January web post, the Israeli Defense Forces wrote that "since October 7, evidence of numerous incidents of Hamas exploiting UNRWA infrastructure and UNRWA employees being involved in terrorist activity has been exposed." The IDF, citing intelligence findings, claimed that among UNRWA's 12,521 employees in Gaza, "at least 1,462 (12%) are members of Hamas or other designated terrorist organizations."
Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected UNRWA's framing of the dismissals. "UNRWA's statement on the termination of 70 employees, while blaming the victim, Israel, and without even mentioning the word 'Hamas,' is a cynical cover-up," the ministry wrote on X.
