Israeli lawmakers seek to ban UNRWA over support for Hamas, declare it terrorist entity

"Pressure has been mounting in recent weeks on UNRWA, the United Nations agency tasked with aiding Palestinian refugees, over its failure to condemn armed terror groups in the Gaza Strip that have openly used its internationally funded facilities, including health clinics, schools and even its main headquarters, to conduct a brutal war against Israel.

This week, Israeli lawmakers approved the first reading of a bill that would cut ties with the controversial U.N. agency and declare it a terrorist entity. Speaking in the Knesset last week, Yulia Malinovsky, the bill’s sponsor, called UNRWA ‘a fifth column within the State of Israel’ and said it was high time that the agency was outlawed in the country.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Congress’ House Foreign Affairs Committee also passed initial legislation that would build on an already existing funding freeze of the multimillion-dollar organization and direct the State Department to recover previously donated monies...

The pushback against UNRWA, which according to its website carries out critical life-saving work for some 5.9 million Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, comes after Israel provided evidence that UNRWA employees actively participated in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attacks in southern Israel. More than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were murdered in the surprise attack, and a further 240, including a 9-month-old infant, were taken hostage back to Gaza.

In February, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Fox News Digital that ‘dozens’ of UNRWA employees took part in the shocking attack and, following the release of more than 100 hostages, mainly women and children, during a cease-fire deal last November, it has been revealed that some were held captive by teachers and medical staff employed by the agency...

UNRWA is also facing heat in Congress, with some members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee steadfast on maintaining the prohibition against funding – and now even seeking to rescind U.S. monies previously transferred to the agency.

On July 12, the committee voted on a bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., directing the secretary of state to recover any federal funds already distributed to UNRWA. Passing in the committee, 24-22, Mast posted a lengthy video on X accusing those who voted against it of ‘willfully ignoring anything that doesn't fit into their narrative that Palestinians are victims in this war – that is what they want to put forward – instead of [recognizing that] they started this war, they started a genocide, and now this war is what's taking place.’

He criticized Democrats who claim that ‘UNRWA was doing God’s work,’ noting that individuals educated in schools run by the agency were ‘indoctrinated… with hate for the Jews.’

‘For way too long, UNRWA has masqueraded as a relief organization, while in reality serving as an incubator for Palestinian terrorists,’ he said, adding, ‘Intelligence reports indicate that as many as ten percent of UNRWA workers have direct links to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihadists. It’s ludicrous that our hard-earned American tax dollars were going to fund this crap. The State Department needs to do everything it can to recoup this money.’

Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices, told Fox News Digital that denying American funds for UNRWA made sense for Americans ‘because UNRWA is a body that fuels the hatred of Jews and the violence that results from that gross intolerance.’

‘This isn't conjecture. It's undeniable fact,’ she said, pointing out that ‘UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 atrocities, sizable numbers of UNRWA employees are members of Hamas and other Palestinian terror organizations and UNRWA facilities have been used as Hamas command and control centers and as weapons storage depots.’

‘It makes sense for Americans to deny funds to UNRWA because it's the right thing to do,’ she said. ‘Terrorism, rape, and antisemitism – not on our dime!’"