Sinwar's UNRWA ties show Congress was right to cut off funding

Shortly after confirming the death of Yahya Sinwar, Israeli television displayed the contents of the Hamas leader’s pockets: A pack of Mentos, a lighter, prayer beads, and a large wad of cash — all ordinary stuff.

But there was one more item on Sinwar’s person that should enrage every American: He was carrying an official document identifying him as an employee of UNRWA, the United Nations agency that was established exclusively to help Palestinian refugees, and which has tragically become indistinguishable from Hamas.

According to Israeli security documents that were recently made public, at least 440 of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza are Hamas terrorists. An additional 2,000 are registered Hamas operatives, and more than 7,000 have immediate family members who are active in Hamas.

Despite being provided with overwhelming evidence of the organization’s complicity in the murder and kidnapping of innocent Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, the United Nations stonewalled the investigation, admitting meekly that it had identified nine UNRWA employees who “may have” been involved in the massacre.

The organization, sadly, had nothing to say about UNRWA’s schools, which have repeatedly been shown to be hotbeds of incitement and indoctrination, teaching young Gazans to hate Jews and plan to harm them. UNRWA's schools have literally gone so far as to disseminate educational materials praising Adolf Hitler.

The above was enough for Congress to approve a nearly unprecedented appropriations bill earlier this year that bans all funding for UNRWA for only the second time in American history. The Biden White House, sadly, had other ideas, and was quick to sign on to a “statement of shared commitments” that affirms the administration’s support for the agency.

“We have been clear about the important role that UNRWA plays in delivering humanitarian assistance and other critical assistance to Palestinians in Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a July briefing. “As you know, we are currently barred by statute from providing assistance through UNRWA, but that doesn’t mean we don’t support the work that they do.”

The administration wasn’t just talking the talk. It was walking the walk as well: When victims of Israelis murdered on Oct. 7 sued UNRWA in a New York federal court, accusing the group of abetting Hamas “in the commission of international torts,” Biden’s Department of Justice jumped in to defend the U.N. While not disputing the lawsuit’s claims of UNRWA’s complicity in terrorism, the Justice Department argued that the U.N. was “absolutely immune” from having to account for UNRWA’s support for Hamas.

So UNRWA remains coddled and protected, with untouchable funding, unvettable employees and senior managers who illegally lobby in the U.S. for support.

As if that weren't enough, UNRWA has now managed to convince the American government that it should literally help its employees get away with murder.

It doesn’t take a legal eagle to realize that the Justice Department's filing is, at best, bizarre. The U.S. has defined Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997. Now, by granting the organization immunity despite its clear and demonstrable ties to the terror organization, Biden's Justice Department has chosen to ignore the will of Congress and place UNRWA above American sovereignty — a decision that clearly constitutes a violation of the prohibition on colluding with terrorists.

Not that anyone in the Biden White House is bothered by that. When asked if the administration supports the new legislation being advanced by House progressives to restore funding to UNRWA, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was blunt.

“In light of the fact that there is still an ongoing crisis in Gaza and the essential role that UNRWA does play in the distribution of life-saving assistance,” he said, “we continue to support funding for UNRWA.”

Here’s hoping that the UNRWA employee ID on Sinwar’s person changes that — or, at least, that it generates enough outrage from American voters to punish any politician who advocates support for the terror group currently holding eight American citizens hostage.

UNRWA ought to die with Sinwar. Its ethos of entitlement and promotion of the Palestinian identity as permanent refugees — a problem to be resolved only with the destruction of Israel — cannot be allowed to continue.

Anyone committed to ending the war in Gaza should demand, first and foremost, an end to the UNRWA as well.

Asaf Romirowsky is the executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa.