Israel calls to disband ‘Hamas front’ UNRWA as gov't spokesman reveals more damning evidence

As more evidence of the deep connection between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip and the terror organization Hamas comes to light, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the evidence “highly, highly credible.”

He emphasized that it was “imperative that UNRWA immediately, as it said it would, investigate; that it hold people accountable as necessary; and that it review its procedures,” Blinken told the press on Tuesday.

Despite the controversy surrounding the UN agency, which has lost most of its major donor nations over the last few days, Blinken stressed that UNRWA remained “indispensable” for providing humanitarian services in the Strip.

In a direct contradiction, Israeli Government Spokesman Eylon Levy called on nations to completely defund UNRWA, urging that other UN agencies should take its place.

“There are UN agencies and mechanisms that already exist to distribute aid,” Levy said, apparently referring to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

“In no other conflict in the world, do people have their own tailor-made refugee agency to distribute aid, because the Palestinians are the only people in the world who have their own refugee agency with a separate mandate… a mandate that is to perpetuate their refugee status rather than trying to solve it.”

“The UN has mechanisms. It has the ability to distribute aid and we would like to see the United Nations there as a new coordinator for humanitarian aid,” he added.

In his Tuesday afternoon press briefing, Levy focused on the mounting evidence of cooperation, cover-up and active participation of UNRWA employees in the terror activities of Hamas.

The aid agency “has been fundamentally compromised in three main ways,” Levy said. “Hiring terrorists on a massive scale, letting its infrastructure be used for Hamas military activity, and relying on Hamas for aid distribution in the Gaza Strip.”

In light of this “systemic rot,” the spokesman said, UNRWA should no longer function as an aid distribution agency.

Levy went on to summarize the recently revealed intelligence that UNRWA employees were among the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 massacre.

“At least 13 UNRWA employees are implicated in the massacre. 10 Hamas operatives, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and one unaffiliated. Of those, six UNRWA employees infiltrated Israel in the attack.”

“UNRWA employees were involved in abducting Israelis, including two of those who infiltrated Israeli territory. Another three UNRWA employees, all Hamas, were summoned via text message to arrive at an assembly point on the night of October 6, and directed to equip themselves with weapons. At least one UNRWA employee supplied the Hamas invasion with logistical support. Another was directed to establish an operations room on October 8,” Levy added.

In addition, at least two Israeli survivors of Hamas captivity have so far testified that they were held hostage in the homes of UNRWA teachers in the Gaza Strip.

“It’s more than just a dozen bad apples,” Levy continued. “Add two zeros and make it 1,200 – UNRWA is riddled with Hamas members. Our intelligence indicates that out of approximately 12,000 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, about 10% are Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives. And another 50% are first-degree relatives of a Hamas operative.”

Israeli soldiers also uncovered multiple instances of UNRWA facilities being used by Hamas as military posts.

“Hamas uses these facilities under the UN logo to store arms base rocket launchers, run headquarters, and locate tunnel shafts for the swift movement of forces throughout the Gaza Strip… In many cases, Hamas and PIJ fire rockets and mortar shells from nearby and even within UNRWA schools throughout the war,” Levy said.

“UNRWA is a core plank in Hamas’s strategy because its activity allows Hamas to maintain public order since its 2007 coup, while focusing its resources on its military apparatus and terror attacks,” Levy said in reference to a recent interview with senior Hamas member Musa Abu Marzouk.

In light of all this, the Israeli government has called to completely defund UNRWA and replace it with genuine humanitarian agencies. It has also called for the resignation or dismissal of its leadership and an investigation of its ties to Hamas.

“Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken forcefully of the need for de-radicalization in Gaza and therefore stated clearly the need to ensure that Gaza’s children not be educated to be terrorists, as UNRWA has consistently practiced,” Levy concluded, adding that UNRWA “is part of the problem. Not part of the solution. It is a Hamas front and it’s time to put it behind.”