U.N. obstructed U.S. investigation into UNRWA ties to Hamas

"The United Nations obstruction an investigation by the American government into the ties between UNRWA employees in Gaza and the Hamas terrorist organization, according to a USAID report released last month.

The report, titled ‘USAID OIG’s Investigative Work to Prevent UNRWA Staff Associated With Hamas From Circulating to Other U.S. Government-Funded Aid Organizations,’ documented how the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) redacted the names of UNRWA employees who had been investigated for alleged ties to Hamas, rendering the documents provided useless for the investigation.

Eitan Fischberger, the journalist who first reported the USAID report, stated that ‘the United Nations appears to have gone out of its way to obstruct’ USAID's investigation.

USAID's summary of the report states...‘USAID OIG independently found evidence connecting three current or former UNRWA employees to the October 7 terror attacks and affiliating 14 other current or former UNRWA employees with Hamas. The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) gave USAID OIG an opportunity to review the report of its independent investigation into UNRWA staff involvement in the October 7 attacks. However, OIOS redacted the names of subjects, rendering the report unusable for our purposes. We were also unable to obtain from UNRWA the names of any terminated personnel,’ the summary stated.

UNRWA has long been criticized for its cooperation with Hamas. That criticism has increased since Israel revealed a year ago that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks..."