USAID has referred 101 current or former UNRWA staff members to the US State Department for suspension or disbarment over their role in the October 7 massacre and/or affiliation with Hamas, USAID’s Office of Inspector General reported last week.
School principals, teachers, security personnel, attendants, psychosocial counselors, and medical professionals employed by UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) were among those referred.
Some of them had already been referred by USAID (US Agency for International Development), but additional information was uncovered since the initial application.
Two deputy school principals at an UNRWA institution had served in senior positions in Izzadin al-Qassam, Hamas’s so-called military wing, USAID said.
An UNRWA employee served as a deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion, it said. Another was a squad leader for the Khan Yunis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion, it added.
A deputy school principal served as a platoon commander in Hamas’s Nuseirat Battalion and had communications responsibilities during the October 7 massacre, USAID said. A teacher delivered two anti-tank missiles to a prescribed location for use in Hamas’s massacre, it said.
UNRWA-affiliated commanders of Hamas fighting forces, soldiers
If the State Department disbars or suspends the individuals identified by USAID, they will be banned from working for any US-funded aid organizations.
The referrals have already led to the disbarment of Hafez Mousa Mohammed Mousa, an operative of the Hamas East Jabalya Battalion, who coordinated communications with other suspected Hamas members during the October 7 massacre while also serving as an UNRWA school principal.
“We take these allegations very, very seriously, and any allegation of neutrality breach made against staff will be taken very seriously, and that includes alleged membership in sanctioned Palestinian groups,” an UNRWA spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for neutrality breaches, and that means there is no place in UNRWA for terrorists, or criminals, or those who don’t share the values of the United Nations,” the spokesperson said.
UNRWA provided information to USAID’s Office of Inspector General and offered to provide more information if needed, the UNRWA spokesperson said, adding that the organization would respond to allegations that have corroborated evidence.