Tipsheet

CNN Grilled UNRWA's Spokesperson Over New Terrorism Allegations. It Did Not Go Well.

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  December 04, 2023 9:45 PM

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is once again being slapped with allegations of terrorism, with new reports pointing to staffers being involved in holding Israelis hostage. This isn’t the first time the agency has been accused of such allegations. The Free Beacon had a story last week regarding a UNRWA teacher who held an Israeli hostage in an attic for 50 days: 

A teacher with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reportedly held an Israeli hostage taken captive by Hamas on Oct. 7 in an attic. 

The teacher, a father of 10 children, kept the hostage for almost 50 days, barely provided food, and neglected the hostage's medical needs, Israeli Channel 13's Almog Boker reported Wednesday. A Gazan doctor also held another hostage, according to Boker. 

A spokeswoman for the UNRWA acknowledged the allegations but declined to comment.

And as Israeli forces have cleared out Hamas strongholds and weapons caches, many armaments have been found bearing the UNRWA logo (via Times of Israel): 

The Israel Defense Forces says troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip have located dozens of rockets hidden under boxes with UNRWA markings in a residential home, and other weaponry belonging to Hamas. 

Troops of the 7007th Reserve Battalion were searching a home in a neighborhood when they found a room full of boxes bearing the logo of the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees. 

Underneath the boxes, dozens of rockets, mortars and other explosives were found, the IDF says. 

Given these allegations, it’s a bit surprising that they had their director of affairs, Thomas White, go on CNN, where he was grilled about his organization's ties to terrorism. It did not go well: 

And to boot, UNRWA tried to neutralize the allegations on social media, only to get brutally fact-checked for being a hub for terrorist activity. On top of the teacher holding an Israeli hostage story, UNRWA teachers celebrated the October 7 attacks, and a headmaster at a UNRWA school was a terrorist:

And the United Nations is the body that remained silent on the mass rape of Israeli women by Hamas savages for nearly 60 days and essentially blamed Israel for the October 7 attacks. It’s a joke of an international body that’s been compromised by pro-terrorist or antisemitic elements. Now, one of their splinter sects is palling around with Hamas and other terror groups. It’s why Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) wants an investigation, and no one should blame her (via Fox News): 

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Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., demanded an investigation into allegations that a controversial United Nations agency's employee detained one of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.  

"The United States will not be complicit in propping up Hamas' terrorism, and this report further proves why deep change is necessary within UNRWA before we even consider providing another dollar to the agency," Blackburn wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital and addressed to U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.  

"It is deeply concerning that, despite the prevalence of these reports, the United Nations has seemingly done nothing to investigate or prevent the siphoning of UNRWA funding by terrorists, and UNRWA continues to double down on its claims that each subsequent, documented report is ‘unsubstantiated.’" 

Blackburn has requested a response by Dec. 18 that addresses a report from Israeli reporter Almog Boker about a UNRWA employee who allegedly detained a hostage in their house for 50 days and details of any investigation into the report, as well as an explanation of UNRWA's "process for ensuring its facilities are not used to support terrorist activities," among other points. 

Boker, a journalist with Israeli Channel 13, last week claimed on social media platform X that he had interviewed a recently released hostage who told him a UNRWA teacher held them hostage. He additionally claimed a Gazan doctor – allegedly a pediatrician – helped hold another hostage captive for Hamas.  

Not that it needs to be said, but this is another reason why any further overtures for a pause in the fighting should be ignored. Keep killing Hamas.