Trump Claims UN Agency 'Funneled Money to Hamas': What to Know

President Donald Trump’s announcement that he wants the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip included an attack on a United Nations aid agency that he said “funneled” money to Hamas and was “very disloyal to humanity.”

During his recent press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he’d halted funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), an aid agency that has supported Palestinian refugees since 1949.

Last year, Israel alleged that some UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, claiming militants used UNRWA facilities to store weapons. UNRWA denied the allegations, asserting that it did not knowingly aid armed groups and takes measures to remove suspected militants from its ranks.

Trump, who misleadingly claimed responsibility for ending support to UNRWA, then went on to allege that the organization had funded Hamas. Netanyahu praised Trump, alleging that UNRWA “support[s] and fund[s] terrorists.” Netanyahu has pursued the dismantling of UNRWA for years, claiming it “perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem and teaches children to hate Israel.”

Netanyahu’s visit to the White House follows the enforcement of a ban preventing UNRWA from working in East Jerusalem in January. The move has been criticized by the likes of Amnesty International, whose secretary general, Agnès Callamard, said it amounted to “criminalization of humanitarian aid.”

“UNRWA has played an indispensable role in offering, food, water, medical aid, education and shelter to the nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza who have been forcibly displaced, subjected to an engineered famine, and stand at serious risk of genocide as a result of Israel’s relentless offensive in the last 12 months,” Callamard said.

“This law flies in the face of the International Court of Justice order to Israel to ensure sufficient humanitarian assistance and facilitate basic services.”

Last year, the agency faced allegations from Israeli intelligence that dozens of its employees were either Hamas or Jihadi militants, claiming some were involved in the October 7 attacks. Although some have questioned the substance of the allegations, many nations including the U.S., suspended contributions to the agency in response.

A U.N. investigation found nine of UNRWA’s 30,000 employees may have been involved with October 7 and all were dismissed from the organization.

UNRWA has told Newsweek that it took immediate action to dismiss the staff accused before a dossier detailing all of the Israeli allegations was shared publicly, terminating more staff after the U.N. launched a separate investigation. The aid agency has faced years of pressure from Netanyahu. While the Israeli prime minister has argued that UNRWA should fold into other U.N. support agencies, some consider this view part of a broader plan to diminish land rights in Palestinian territory.

While UNRWA’s reputation and funding have suffered because of Israel’s allegations, the separate claims Trump and Netanyahu made that the organization funds Hamas and “terrorists” ventures into separate territory.

What Is UNRWA?

Since 1949, UNRWA has provided refugee support and services to those whose “normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.”

Services are available to those who meet this definition while descendants of Palestinian refugee males, including adopted children, are eligible for registration, as stated by UNRWA.

It’s speculated that Netanyahu and Israel’s opposition to UNRWA concerns this classification of Palestinian refugee status, in that it may tacitly support the Palestinian right to return to territory that includes Gaza and the West Bank.

The agency says 5.9 million Palestinian refugees are eligible to use its services, which include access to health services, education and emergency response work.

During his first administration, Trump cut funding to UNRWA, later reinstated by President Joe Biden in 2021.

Israel and Netanyahu’s opposition to UNRWA has been similarly long-standing. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said upon the renewal of U.S. funding in 2021: “Israel’s position is that the organization in its current form perpetuates the conflict and does not contribute to its resolution.

“The renewal of aid to UNRWA should be accompanied by substantial and necessary changes in the nature, goals and conduct of the organization.”

Netanyahu told his Cabinet in 2017 that UNRWA should be merged with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. His comments followed the discovery by UNRWA of a tunnel running between two of its schools in the Gaza Strip, as reported by Reuters. UNRWA condemned the incident as a violation of neutrality, but Hamas denied responsibility.

Amid his history of opposition, Netanyahu and his government have been the subject of multiple U.N. investigations. The U.N. Human Rights Council has launched a series of investigations into Israel’s actions in occupied Palestinian territory and Gaza over the past decade. The U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory examined Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks and found evidence of “war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israeli attacks on Gaza health facilities and treatment of detainees, hostages.”

The Commission also, following its examination of how detainees had been treated, concluded that Israel and Palestinian armed groups were responsible for “torture and sexual and gender-based violence.”

Newsweek has contacted a media representative for Netanyahu via email for comment.

What Happened To UNRWA?

As reported by Reuters, a six-page Israeli intelligence dossier passed to governments and media in January 2024 alleged that 190 UNRWA employees had doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants, accusing 12 people of involvement in the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Allegations included assisting in kidnappings, coordinating the movement of weapons supplies, and taking part in attacks including on the Nova music festival.

UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma told Newsweek that the UNRWA’s commissioner general spoke with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 18, 2024, during which the allegations about its 12 employees were shared verbally; no document was presented. UNRWA said it terminated the contracts and an investigation was launched. It said the dossier was released 10 days later.

“The Government of Israel has not shared with UNRWA anything in writing on the allegations,” Touma said. “We received the dossier afterwards from open sources.”

Then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the allegations as “highly credible” and “deeply, deeply troubling.”

The U.N., which launched an Oversight investigation in response, found that of 12 people implicated, nine were immediately fired. Another was confirmed dead, while the identity of the other two was clarified.

In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said: “Any UN employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution. The Secretariat is ready to cooperate with a competent authority able to prosecute the individuals in line with the Secretariat’s normal procedures for such cooperation.”

Guterres implored nations that had suspended their funding to “at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRRWA’s operations.

“The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences,” Guterres said. “But the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA [across the region], many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met.”

The reliability of the dossier was questioned by some. U.K. news broadcaster Channel 4, which was given a copy, said it included no evidence supporting claims about UNRWA staff, merely stating: “From intelligence information, documents and identity cards seized during the course of fighting, it is now possible to flag around 190 Hamas and PIJ terrorist operatives who serve as UNRWA employees. More than 10 UNRWA staffers took part in the events of 7/10.”

An investigation by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) assessed that 19 UNRWA staff were alleged to have been involved in the attacks. In one case, it said “no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement. In nine other cases, OIOS said the evidence was “insufficient to support the staff members’ involvement but would take “appropriate measures” to address all 10.

It said another nine staff members “may have been involved” in the October 7 attacks. UNRWA said all 19 staff had their contracts terminated. The dismissals happened even though, it said, the evidence behind the allegations was not authenticated or corroborated. All staff dismissed have not been permitted to return to work with UNRWA, including those for whom no evidence was found to support allegations.

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general, wrote: “For the remaining nine cases, the evidence – if authenticated and corroborated – could indicate that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the attacks of 7 October.

“I have decided that in the case of these remaining nine staff members, they cannot work for UNRWA.  All contracts of these staff members will be  terminated in the interest of the Agency.”

Suggestions of UNRWA ties have not ended there. Earlier this month, a British-Israeli hostage, Emily Damari, told U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer that Hamas held her in UNRWA facilities, her mother said.

As reported by The Guardian, Touma said the claims were “very serious,” adding that UNRWA did not have access to several of its facilities for many months.

“The vast majority of our buildings were turned into shelter when the war started,” Touma told the BBC. “There was also very, very little supplies and assistance that the agency could give them.”

Touma said UNRAW repeatedly called for the release of hostages and for independent investigations into “the misuse and disregard” of its premises by Palestinian armed groups including Hamas “even if they were vacated.”

The investigations did not specifically mention that UNRWA had funded Hamas. However, a civil lawsuit submitted during this time has alleged Hamas skimmed $1 billion of UNRWA funding, alleging top officials at the agency knew about it. The suit alleges that some of the money was used to fund resources in the attack on Israel.

Hamas Funding Lawsuit

This appears to be the source of Trump’s accusation. Newsweek has contacted a White House representative via email for comment.

As reported by the Associated Press in June 2024, the plaintiffs alleged that UNRWA staff were paid and shipped U.S. dollars, funneling them to Gaza money-changers who gave a cut to Hamas.

However, UNRWA told AP staffers were paid in dollars by choice. UNRWA denied knowingly aiding Hamas or other militant groups. The suit was filed on behalf of, among many other Israelis, survivors of the October 7 attacks, victims’ relatives and rescued captives.

The case is ongoing and the claims are unsettled, unlike how Trump appears to have portrayed the matter. Touma told Newsweek that the lawsuit was part of a “smear campaign.”

“UNRWA is aware of reports of a lawsuit filed against it and certain of its officials in the United States,” Touma said. “However, as yet, it has not been served with any legal process and, therefore, is not in a position to comment at this time. The U.N., including UNRWA, enjoys immunity from legal process, as do United Nations officials, including those serving with UNRWA. This lawsuit filed against the agency is part of the smear campaign against UNRWA.”

Trump, Hamas And Israeli Peace

Since Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu, the promise of a peace day and the safe transfer of hostages between Israel and Hamas has hung in the balance.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri has said that hostages would be freed only if Israel abides by a ceasefire agreement reached last month.

“Trump must remember there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties,” he said.

The fragile ceasefire, which has facilitated hostage exchanges and humanitarian aid deliveries, is at risk of collapse. The failure to secure a lasting agreement could reignite violence and escalate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Trump’s call for Israel to abandon the truce if Hamas does not comply adds further uncertainty to an already-volatile situation.