Israel exposes UNRWA’s deep ties to Hamas in ICJ testimony, citing hostage accounts and terrorist infiltration

The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Friday submitted written testimony to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), detailing the close ties between the disgraced UN aid agency, UNRWA, and the Hamas terrorist organization in connection with the atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli report also included testimony from freed Israeli hostage Emily Damari, where she confirmed that Hamas terrorists were holding her captive in an UNRWA facility in Gaza. Other Israeli hostages have also testified that they were held captive by UNRWA employees. 

However, the United Nations and the ICJ have largely ignored – and even whitewashed – the strong ties between UNRWA and Hamas

The Israeli Foreign Ministry criticized what it called a “distorted process” by the international organizations, where the outcome was “predetermined.”

“The process ignores the atrocities of October 7 and the shameful involvement of UNRWA employees in the October 7 massacre and terrorist activities,” the Foreign Ministry stated.

“This is a fundamentally flawed process in which, through the automatic political majority against Israel at the UN, the institutions of international law are used for making political decisions.”  

The Foreign Ministry also emphasized that the report it filed with the ICJ “exposes the deliberate bias” concerning an advisory opinion and unveils “the links of UNRWA employees to Hamas activities, the deep involvement of UNRWA employees in terrorist activities, the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorist activities, and the numerous violations of the neutrality to which UN institutions are committed.”

Israeli intelligence has estimated that at least 12% of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza are simultaneously members of Hamas and other terror groups. In other words, over 1,000 terrorists have been embedded in the UN agency in flagrant violation of the United Nations’ commitment to neutrality. 

In January 2024, the United States and several other donor nations temporarily suspended financial aid to UNRWA after Israel provided incriminating evidence of its employees' involvement in the Oct. 7 massacre and kidnapping of – primarily – Israeli civilians.

However, international aid to UNRWA was largely restored in April 2024 after a controversial panel report minimized the strong ties between Hamas and UNRWA. 

Last July, the Israeli Foreign Ministry specifically named 100 terrorists employed by UNRWA in a letter addressed to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. 

The Israeli ambassador to Jordan, Amir Weissbrod, who wrote the letter to Lazzarini, noted that Hamas’ infiltration into UNRWA had been a "recurring concern" for the Jewish state even before the Oct. 7 attack. 

"However, the full scope of this unprecedented infiltration was unknown and became clear only after the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel, in which, as you know, UNRWA employees actively participated," Weissbrod stated. 

In October 2024, the Israeli Knesset banned UNRWA operations despite international pressure to refrain from such a move. Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have emphasized that UNRWA’s close affiliation with Hamas threatens Israeli security.