European Parliament members from 16 of its 27 member states have called on the EU to cease funding UNRWA over its ties to terrorist groups and lack of commitment to peace.
The EU gives about €80 million-€90 million in funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East each year.
The MPs from Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Cyprus, Romania, Denmark, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Finland, and Portugal wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, expressing their concerns about UNRWA.
Amid the somewhat rocky ceasefire and future of the Gaza Strip, the MPs said it was essential for support to be channeled through partners that share values of peace and reject “the forces of hate.”
UNRWA does not share those values and instead has “shown serious breaches of trust, including staff members connected to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” the MPs wrote.
These revelations have already led the US and Sweden to halt cooperation with UNRWA, and the MPs urged the EU to follow suit.
“The rebuilding of Gaza should not repeat the failures of the past,” they wrote. “It must be carried out by credible organizations that invest in education, health, and opportunity for all – partners that build for peace, not for hate.”
EU funds must only go to organizations that uphold principles of peace, accountability, and human dignity, the letter said.
Swedish MP Alice Teodorescu posted the letter on her X/Twitter account and wrote: “We must take care of taxpayers’ money. UNRWA has no role to play in a future peace between Palestinians and Israelis.”
No money should be given to 'organizations that promote terror, Islamism, or antisemitism,' writes Henrik Dahl
In a post on X, Danish MP Henrik Dahl said no money should be given to “organizations that promote terror, Islamism, or antisemitism.”
He lamented that the EU continues to send millions of euros to UNRWA and said he, together with center-right forces in the European Parliament, is proposing an amendment to the EU’s budget for 2026.
Specifically, all funds to organizations that promote terror, Islamism, or antisemitism must be immediately suspended, Dahl said.
“According to the UN’s own investigation, nine UNRWA employees participated in Hamas’s attack on October 7,” he wrote.
UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza were located on a Hamas base with server rooms and a 700-meter-long tunnel, and the terrorist organization used UNRWA schools and warehouses as hiding places for weapons and even Israeli hostages, Dahl said.
“After everything that has now come to light, no one can any longer claim that UNRWA is a ‘neutral humanitarian actor,’” he wrote.
UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer praised the coalition of EU lawmakers.
“Bravo to European lawmakers from 16 countries for calling on the EU to support peace and reject hate by ending funding for terror-infested UNRWA,” he said.