Captured Records Show Hamas Controlled UNRWA Schools in Gaza

Photo Credit: Ali Hassan/Flash90

This UNRWA school in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, was attacked from the air on October 14, 2024, following reports of its being a Hamas enclave.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) managed schools throughout Gaza until they were closed following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war. Employing approximately 13,000 staff members, including many in its schools, the agency is responsible for ensuring the neutrality of its facilities in conflict areas by preventing militants from accessing its premises or being on its payroll.

However, interviews and an analysis of records shared with the NY Times by the Israeli military and foreign ministry suggest that at least 24 individuals employed by UNRWA across 24 different schools were members of Hamas or the Islamic Jihad. Before the war, UNRWA oversaw a total of 288 schools housed within 200 building complexes in Gaza.

According to the documents, most of the Hamas terrorists on UNRWA’s payroll held senior posts at the schools, serving as principals or deputy principals, while the remainder were school counselors and teachers. The records also indicate that nearly all of these Hamas-linked educators were fighters in the Qassam Brigades.

UNRWA officials asserted that Israel is conducting a campaign to discredit the agency and ultimately shut it down. At the same time, UN officials acknowledge the difficulty of ensuring that no terrorists would be among the agency’s workers in Gaza, where UNRWA is one of the largest employers and Hamas has maintained strict control for nearly two decades.

Among the seized records are secret Hamas military plans indicating that the Qassam Brigades considered schools and other civilian sites as “the best obstacles to protect the resistance” in their warfare against Israel. The documents specifically mention two schools intended as strongholds for hiding fighters and storing weapons during a conflict.

The Israeli government shared these documents with The Times upon request, following Israel’s release of a list of 100 UNRWA employees who were terrorists. The Times sought records specifically concerning school staff, a significant portion of the agency’s workforce, to evaluate the evidence behind Israel’s claims.

The seized records, along with interviews with current and former UNRWA employees, Gaza residents, and former students, provide the most detailed evidence to date of Hamas’s presence within UNRWA schools. In several instances, educators continued working for UNRWA even after Israel issued written warnings identifying them as terrorists.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini during a visit to the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem, June 2, 2021. / Jamal Awad/Flash90

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s commissioner general, on August 6 issued a statement following what he claimed had been an investigation into Israeli allegations that nine of his employees belonged to Hamas. He published his conclusions:

“The OIOS investigation’s outcomes are the following:

“In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement. That staff member has rejoined the Agency.
“In nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff members’ involvement, and the OIOS investigation of them is now closed.
“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.”

UNRWA then argued:

“The Claim: Israeli officials have stated that “UNRWA’s problem is not just ‘a few bad apples’ involved in the October 7 massacre,” and that the “institution as a whole is a haven for Hamas’ radical ideology.”

“The facts: UNRWA takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that its operations and staff adhere to UN values and core humanitarian principles. From January 2022 until November 2024, the Agency was subjected to a sustained campaign of more than 250 complaints, mainly from external NGOs, alleging neutrality breaches against individuals reported as UNRWA personnel. Only 0.66% of UNRWA personnel out of 30,000 staff across all UNRWA Fields of Operations were identified as being implicated in breach of neutrality allegations throughout the period specified above.”

It turns out they were lying.