Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh worked as a teacher for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unwra), former official at the agency Ahmad Oueidat revealed in an interview with the London-based Al-Hiwar TV channel last week.
In footage translated by Memri (The Middle East Media Research Institute), Oueidat says: “First and foremost, we can mention Ismail Haniyeh, who was an Unwra teacher, and so was Dr. Talal Naji, Secretary-General of the PFLP-GC [People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which pioneered hijackings in the 1660s and 1970s].”
Reuters reported on Tuesday that the US ban on funding Unwra would continue until at least March 2025.
The Biden administration suspended aid to the scandal-plagued, Palestinian-only refugee and social-services agency in January.
That suspension came after Israel claimed that a dozen Unwra staff members had actively participated in Hamas’s October 7 massacre, and amid accusations of deeper and broader ties between Unwra staff and Gazan terror groups, including the employment of 450 terrorists from Hamas and other armed groups.
The United States is Unwra's largest donor, contributing $300 million to $400 million annually.
Seventeen other countries paused funding to the agency pending the results of investigations. The United Nations initiated an internal probe into the matter and former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is leading an independent review.
However, Australia, Sweden, the European Commission and Canada have reinstated funding, drawing criticism from Jerusalem as none of the investigations have concluded.
Last month, the US Senate voted to cut off funding for Unwra as part of a $95 billion bill containing aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The legislative proposal, however, has been held up in the House of Representatives.
During a visit to Jordan at the end of February, Samantha Power, the U.S. Agency for International Development administrator, announced that Washington would give an additional $53 million in humanitarian aid to the World Food Programme and international non-profits for Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and in the West Bank.
“This brings the total amount of funding announced by the U.S. government since Oct. 7 to more than $180 million,” said Power.
(Written with JNS.org)
