A confidential review of an UNRWA Hamas report reveals the United Nations dismissed Israeli intelligence—including intercepted calls and cell phone data—linking U.N. employees to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The investigation by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) concluded that evidence was “likely authentic” but deemed it “insufficient” to justify firing 10 of 19 identified staffers.
Among those cleared were an alleged “Hamas platoon commander” and another “Hamas operative,” both identified through Israeli intelligence. One U.N. employee was accused of aiding his son in infiltrating Israel and kidnapping an Israeli woman, but investigators brushed it off, describing the conversation as that of “a parent outraged by his errant son’s conduct.”
A senior congressional aide told the Free Beacon the United Nations “went in with a certain outlook and plan of how they wanted this to turn out” and “dismissed all the Israeli intelligence, the phone tracking and data.”
The report further undermined Israel’s evidence by rejecting SMS messages and intercepted communications showing an UNRWA staffer had received orders to bring “two anti-tank missiles” to a meeting point. The U.N. said the staffer “denied involvement” and found “no other information” confirming Israel’s claims.
A senior U.S. official said the UN’s failure to act proved it was “unable to investigate itself properly,” adding that “the IG’s investigation will protect American taxpayer dollars from funding the salaries of Hamas terrorists shape-shifting as aid workers.”
The findings suggest UNRWA could still employ individuals tied to Hamas, even as it prepares to resume aid operations in Gaza—fueling concerns that the U.N.’s own bureaucracy is shielding terrorism under the guise of humanitarianism.
