The Trump administration told Congress this week that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency should be dismantled due to its terror ties, The Washington Free Beacon reported on Thursday.
“The administration has determined UNRWA is irredeemably compromised and now seeks its full dismantlement,” the U.S. State Department wrote to Congress, according to the Free Beacon.
An internal U.N. probe found that at least nine UNRWA staffers “likely or very likely” participated directly in the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel, which has long stated that the U.N. agency has terror ties, says that many more UNRWA staffers are tied to Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups.
Hamas admitted that its commander in Lebanon, whom Israel killed in an air strike, was the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union and a school principal. An UNRWA employee, photographed participating in the Oct. 7 attacks, was killed in an airstrike while driving a U.N. vehicle.
The Biden administration and Congress suspended funding for UNRWA after Israel’s allegations came to light. Other countries originally froze funding but then relented after a report, which Israel rejected, absolved UNRWA of accountability.
Congress has since refused to resume UNRWA funding, as critics have accused the agency, which distributes aid in Gaza, of letting Hamas loot large amounts of food intended for civilians.
Hamas has insisted in ceasefire negotiations that the United Nations be the only agency allowed to facilitate aid distribution in Gaza.
“UNRWA exists to provide cover for Hamas,” a senior State Department official said, per the Free Beacon. “They are completely corrupt and should be disbanded.”
