A coalition of Republican senators on Thursday told the State Department that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) must have no role in the postwar plan for the Gaza Strip, citing the agency's alleged ties to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups.
"As discussions on Gaza's future continue, we must avoid repeating the mistakes that empowered the terror group to take hold in the first place," the lawmakers, led by Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
"For decades, [UNRWA] has operated in Gaza, yet extensive reporting, investigations, and intelligence assessments documented systemic infiltration of the agency by Hamas and other U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations."
A watchdog organization in September said Hamas terror chiefs "knowingly" took control of an education system responsible for schooling hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza and Lebanon under UNRWA's umbrella.
UN Watch detailed in a 200-page report how UNRWA employed Hamas-affiliated figures as school principals and teachers and allowed the terror chiefs to lead the unions that oversee thousands of their teachers.
The United Nations knew about all of it and did nothing, the group said.
Rubio said in October that UNRWA wouldn't play any role in providing humanitarian aid in Gaza.
"UNRWA's not going to play any role. And the UN is here. The U.N. — we can — we're seeing the work they're doing, the World Food Program," Rubio told reporters after touring the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Israel.
"There's also nonprofit NGOs, humanitarian assistance organizations that are involved in this — Samaritan's Purse — so it's a conglomeration of about eight to 12 groups that are here. The United Nations is here.
"They're on the ground. We're willing to work with them if they can make it work, but not UNRWA.
"UNRWA became a subsidiary of Hamas."
Senators praised Rubio for his promise but asked him to take steps to reinforce it.
"We strongly urge the administration to ensure that UNRWA play no role in any efforts to stabilize, govern, and rebuild Gaza," they wrote.
"Instead, we encourage the United States to work with vetted international partners, trusted regional actors, and nongovernmental organizations that are demonstrably free of terrorist influence and committed to transparency, accountability, and peace."
Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal on Oct. 10.
The next parts of the 20-point plan call for creating an international stabilization force. Its makeup hasn't been finalized, but diplomats are working to define its role, persuade Arab countries to take part, and win wider international support.
The fragile agreement aims to wind down the war that was triggered by the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
Israel responded with a sweeping military offensive that has killed more than 69,100 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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