USAID Investigation Scrutinizes 1,500 UNRWA Employees for Alleged Terrorist Affiliations

U.S. officials are investigating the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the primary UN body tasked with aiding Palestinian refugees, over allegations that more than 1,500 of its employees maintain links to terrorist organizations.

The scrutiny follows years of mounting pressure from Washington for UN member states to withdraw funding from the agency. Longstanding concerns include educational materials accused of inciting violence, the discovery of Hamas tunnel infrastructure beneath UNRWA facilities, and allegations that staff members participated in the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

This picture taken during a media tour organized by the Israeli army on February 8, 2024, shows Israeli soldiers inside an evacuated compound of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

The UN launched its own internal probe in 2024 via the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) after Israel identified 19 UNRWA employees allegedly involved in the October 7 assault. That investigation concluded there was insufficient evidence against 10 individuals, while the contracts of the remaining nine were terminated.

Going further than the UN’s internal review, the USAID Office of the Inspector General (OIG)—an independent law enforcement entity—has expanded its investigation to roughly 1,500 UNRWA personnel. The OIG recently referred 108 current or former staff members to the State Department for debarment, barring them from organizations receiving U.S. funding. These individuals were determined to have participated in the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel or to hold membership in designated terrorist groups.

A U.S. diplomatic official briefed on the probe confirmed that at least 1,500 current or former UNRWA employees are under active investigation for connections to foreign terrorist organizations operating in Gaza.

Aid trucks of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) deliver aid near Gaza City on June 19. (Dawood Abo Alkas/Anadolu Agency)

A senior U.S. official told Fox News Digital that the USAID OIG probe “smartly picked up where the U.N. failed” by examining affiliations beyond direct participation in the October 7 attacks. The official emphasized the investigation is “critical, as U.S. taxpayers should never fund the salaries of aid workers who are members of a foreign terrorist organization.”

The official added that the OIG’s work is “helping prevent terrorists from crisscrossing across aid organizations that have received or are seeking U.S. or Board of Peace funding.”

Hamas has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department since 1997 and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity since 2001.

Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2025. (Omar Al-Qatta / AFP via Getty Images)

According to a USAID OIG press release, the staff referred for debarment spanned a wide range of roles, including school principals, teachers, security personnel, attendants, psychosocial counselors, and medical professionals.

Among those identified were two deputy school principals—one serving as a Hamas deputy company commander, the other as a squad leader. The OIG also flagged a teacher described as a sniper for Hamas and another tasked with tracking explosive device assignments. A school principal assigned to a Hamas military manufacturing unit was also referred; investigators found three anti-tank positions and a tunnel shaft located beneath his school.

Regarding direct involvement in the October 7 attacks, the OIG cited a teacher allegedly ordered to transport two anti-tank missiles to a designated location and a deputy school principal responsible for communications during the assault.

President Donald Trump attends the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., Feb. 19, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The USAID OIG indicated it anticipates additional referrals to the State Department, as well as potential criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.

Consequently, the State Department has barred Hafez Mousa Mohammed Mousa, an UNRWA school principal, from future work with U.S. government entities. The OIG report details that Mousa operated within the Hamas East Jabaliya Battalion and “coordinated communications with other suspected Hamas members during the Oct. 7 attacks.”

Photos released by the Israeli Defense Force show three individuals that the Israeli military claims are Hamas terrorists inside an UNRWA compound in Rafah. (IDF)

When asked whether other identified employees would be blacklisted, a State Department spokesperson stated it was “no surprise that another 100 UNRWA employees were determined to be involved in the barbaric Oct. 7 attack.” The spokesperson added that President Trump and Secretary Rubio have repeatedly affirmed that “no State Department funding will be provided to UNRWA, which has been totally infiltrated by Hamas and terrorist sympathizers.”

On July 1, the Board of Peace posted on X that UNRWA “has no place in the new Gaza.”

An official briefed on the Board of Peace told Fox News Digital that the USAID OIG’s findings are “quite concerning to us.”

An American flag and USAID flag fly outside the USAID building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 1, 2025. (REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon)

The official explained, “We can’t really have an institution operating inside of Gaza where they’re purportedly delivering aid and services to two million people but also allegedly participating in and supporting terrorism. That is anathema to creating a safe and prosperous Gaza for Gazans.” Transitioning away from UNRWA, the official noted, will require a “responsible and deliberate” approach to ensure no gaps in critical aid delivery, including health services, vaccinations, and food distribution.

Last month, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) posted on X regarding the infiltration of UNRWA, stating, “It is time for the United States to take action to address this growing problem and the systemic radicalization in UNRWA facilities.” Risch pledged to work with the U.S. Ambassador to the UN “to root out the terrorist links at the U.N.”

Ambassador Jeff Bartos, the U.S. Representative for United Nations Management and Reform, told a UN meeting in June on UNRWA funding that it was time “to break this cycle.”

“This year, you have the choice to stop underwriting an organization that has become a subsidiary of Hamas, whose employees took part in one of the most barbaric terrorist attacks in human history on Oct. 7, 2023,” Bartos said. “This year, you have the choice to give the Palestinian people living in Gaza the opportunity to find durable solutions and prosper, instead of subjecting them to endless cycles of dependency and forever refugeehood.”

Meanwhile, humanitarian officials warn that aid diversion continues to plague Gaza. On Sunday, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, issued a statement condemning the “obstruction of humanitarian operations in Gaza by the de facto authorities”—a reference to Hamas. Alakbarov detailed that armed personnel had forcibly entered the Abu Rashid food distribution point in Jabalia and a World Food Programme warehouse, reportedly assaulting two truck drivers delivering supplies.

Alakbarov warned that these incidents “are not isolated” and “reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction, including smuggling attempts, targeting and abusing humanitarian operations.”

Fox News Digital reached out to UNRWA for comment.

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