UNRWA says it fired 70 Gaza staff amid Hamas ties allegations

UNRWA’s acting commissioner-general, Christian Saunders, has fired 70 agency employees in the Gaza Strip over allegations that they were linked to Hamas, according to a report by Ynet. The dismissals come amid mounting pressure on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after investigations and complaints about staff suspected of ties to the terror group.

UN Watch, which monitors the United Nations, welcomed the move but said it was only a small step. Its director general, Hillel Neuer, called it “a drop in the ocean” and claimed that about 1,500 more Hamas-linked employees still receive UN salaries. Neuer said UN Watch’s documentation work, including mapping employees allegedly identified with Hamas, together with appeals from American officials, pushed UNRWA to act. He said the group has for years exposed links between UNRWA workers and Hamas, including teachers, school principals and other officials.

UNRWA said the firings do not amount to an admission that the accusations against the workers were true. The agency said it made the decision for safety and security reasons after asking Israel for evidence and receiving no sufficient response. UN Watch rejected that explanation, accusing UNRWA of trying to avoid responsibility.

The Gaza-based UNRWA workers’ union opposed the dismissals, calling them arbitrary and demanding that they be canceled. Neuer argued that firing 70 workers is not enough if, in his view, Hamas has infiltrated the agency’s structure, and he urged donor countries to stop funding UNRWA and work to shut it down.