More than 100 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees have been referred for suspension or debarment from receiving U.S. taxpayer-funded aid after a federal watchdog found alleged links to Hamas and the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Inspector General referred 101 additional UNRWA staff members for suspension or debarment, according to an investigative summary. The referrals were based on alleged “participation” in the Oct. 7 attack, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel, including 46 Americans, or alleged affiliation with Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
“Among the individuals referred were UNRWA school principals, teachers, security personnel, attendants, psychosocial counselors, and medical professionals,” the USAID inspector general’s office said in the summary.
The report said one UNRWA employee worked as a deputy school principal while also serving as a deputy commander in the al-Qassam Brigades. Another deputy school principal was identified as a squad leader in a Khan Younis brigade.
Five UNRWA employees were described as teachers who also held military or intelligence roles in Hamas or affiliated terror groups operating in Gaza. The report did not name the employees, identifying them only by their jobs.
One of those teachers allegedly helped move anti-tank missiles during the Oct. 7 attack, according to the summary.
Other school principals were accused of helping facilitate communications or working at schools where Hamas allegedly operated anti-tank positions or maintained tunnels beneath the facilities.
So far, USAID OIG’s active investigation has led to 108 people being suspended or debarred for alleged participation in the Oct. 7 attack or ties to Hamas, the summary said. Those actions would block the individuals from receiving U.S. foreign aid funding for 10 years.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that about 1,500 UNRWA employees are under review. A senior State Department official confirmed the figure to The Post.
The inspector general’s office expanded the investigation in March. The Post previously reported that the USAID OIG inquiry has been running alongside a federal criminal investigation into Hamas’ alleged ties to UNRWA.
“It remains USAID OIG’s investigative priority to ensure that U.S.-funded humanitarian assistance in Gaza does not fall into the hands of Hamas and other foreign terrorist organizations, depriving assistance from reaching civilian non-combatants in need,” the investigative summary said.
The office added that it has additional work underway to prevent people with terrorist affiliations from moving through U.S.-funded aid groups operating in Gaza.
Past inspector general reviews have warned that funding for UNRWA could be vulnerable to diversion by terror groups in Gaza.
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and 24 other GOP senators urged the Trump administration last month to “fully dismantle UNRWA” and remove it from the United Nations’ budget.
In February 2025, President Trump signed an executive order cutting U.S. funding for UNRWA. Even so, the agency received more than $839 million from international contributors that year.
The United Nations’ annual budget also allocates about $70 million to the Palestinian aid agency.
