UNRWA fires 70 Gaza staff over alleged Hamas ties amid pressure from watchdogs

UNRWA’s acting chief, Christian Saunders, dismissed 70 staff members in the Gaza Strip on Friday evening over ties to Hamas. The move came after growing pressure from UN Watch and the U.S. aid agency USAID, which had raised concerns about more than 100 employees allegedly linked to the terrorist organization. UN Watch director general Hillel Neuer called the action “a drop in the ocean,” saying there were still “1,500 Hamas people getting a salary from the UN.”

Neuer said UN Watch’s long-running documentation of Hamas infiltration at UNRWA, including its “terror network” map identifying at least 400 operatives, together with referrals from the USAID inspector general, forced the agency to act. He added that the step taken now was “only the beginning” and said UN Watch had for years exposed teachers, school principals and other UNRWA workers involved in Hamas activity, including terror leaders heading worker unions.

UN Watch also sharply criticized UNRWA’s official statement on the dismissals. The agency said it had asked Israel for evidence but received no reply, and insisted the firings “in no way constitute an acknowledgment of the claims,” saying they were based only on “safety and security” concerns. UN Watch argued that this stance was internally contradictory and showed an attempt at self-protection rather than full accountability.

The UNRWA workers’ union, long run by employees linked to Hamas, including terror leader Suhail al-Hindi, opposed the firings, calling them “arbitrary” and done “without a fair investigation.” It demanded immediate reversal and said it would hold an emergency meeting. Neuer said that when the union itself is controlled by Hamas activists, opposition to removing such staff was unsurprising, and he pledged, “We will not allow UNRWA to be rehabilitated, it must be closed.” He urged donor states to stop all funding and stop working with what he described as a politicized arm of Hamas. UN Watch said it has previously documented UNRWA’s ties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including in a January report on the agency’s 1.5 billion dollar annual budget and tens of thousands of employees.