Twenty-six attorneys general are calling for the federal government to end funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
The AGs wrote, “On October 7, Hamas perpetrated a mass terror attack against our ally Israel—an attack that included kidnapping and murdering many Americans. In the wake of that attack, America has been at its best in supporting our ally and working to destroy Hamas.”
The U.S. announced last week that it suspended funding to UNRWA following allegations that the agency’s staff was involved in the October 7 attacks against Israel.
“Unlike Hezbollah or Hamas, the United States funds UNRWA—delivering more than $1 billion since the start of the Biden administration to an organization that diverts money intended for education and civil works to material support for kidnapping, torture, and murder,” they wrote, adding that the government “finds itself in a strange situation when it prosecutes people for the crime of providing material support to terrorists but simultaneously sending more than $6 billion to an organization that we know employs terrorists. That must stop.”
“We applaud the January 30 hearing seeking to hold UNRWA to account. That is a necessary first step to recalibrating our approach to aid organizations in Gaza,” the attorneys general noted. “There is no reason to fund organizations that support terrorist operations. It is abundantly clear, and has been for some time, that UNRWA does just that.”
“It is time for Congress to stop funding this organization that rapes, murders, and kidnaps innocents—and that has shown it has no willingness, desire, or capacity to stick to humanitarian aid and away from supporting antisemitism and terrorism,” the letter concluded.
The AGs of Iowa, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming signed the letter.
The call to end UNRWA funding is also seeking support in Congress.
On February 1, Representative Ronny Jackson (R-TX) introduced the Uncovering UNRWA’s Terrorist Crimes Act to prohibit additional funding from the U.S. to UNRWA.
“The legislation also directs the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress on funding provided by the United States to the UNRWA so it can be identified exactly how much taxpayer dollars the Biden administration has sent to this pro-terrorist organization,” a press release reads. For decades, the United States has sent billions of dollars to UNRWA until President Trump halted all payments to the organization in 2018 calling it an ‘irredeemably flawed operation.'”
The Biden administration later renewed UNRWA funding, the press release explains.
