As President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan to end the Hamas-Israel war moves forward, Mideast experts are advocating for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to be excluded from the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. This recommendation stems from UNRWA’s reported support for the terrorist organization Hamas and its track record of severe inefficiency.
Hugh Dugan, who served on the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Organization Affairs in 2020, told Digital that the agency’s initial role “was to provide relief and support pending a durable political solution.” He continued, “As such, a solution is now within reach – provided Hamas complies with immediate disarmament – truly neutral humanitarian operations require new measures and modalities.”
He further noted, “The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has for months distributed aid independently of U.N. channels and successfully prevented diversion by militant groups. Other U.N. humanitarian operations would be well-advised to operate under GHF’s guidance amidst the severe human need.”
Dugan, a former diplomat who served at the U.S. mission to the world body, stated that UNRWA has transformed a modest operation into an expansive transnational bureaucracy, which has perpetuated financial waste and prolonged the conflict by granting refugee status to the descendants of Palestinian refugees after the first Israel-Arab states’ war.
“After the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict,” he explained, “UNRWA’s critical mission was to provide direct relief and works programs for 800,000 Palestinian refugees. Its mandate was to phase itself out as quickly as possible; however, it embarked on a path of mission creep. Over decades, managerially entrenched within the U.N. bureaucracy, UNRWA perpetuates the status of refugees, now numbering 5.9 million,” he commented.
Dugan concluded, “After billions of dollars, Palestinians continue in desperate dependence on humanitarian aid of the most basic kind. This has positioned UNRWA as a political actor in its own right, beyond its original mission. And its politics and relations with Hamas reveal that UNRWA has irretrievably lost its grounding in humanitarian neutrality and non-discrimination.”
In August, a public assessment by the U.S. State Department informed Congress that “The administration has determined UNRWA is irredeemably compromised and now seeks its full dismantlement.” The Biden administration had provided funding to UNRWA since 2021 before the 2024 freeze took effect.
UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma countered these allegations against the organization as dangerous, telling Digital that such claims have “never been substantiated, let alone proven.” She added, “The United Nations has undertaken investigations and external reviews, and none of these claims have been substantiated. Most significantly, these claims have resulted in banning UNRWA, the largest humanitarian organization, from delivering food to hungry people.”
Touma stated, “It also put my colleagues in Gaza in danger and has placed their lives at serious risk due to this disinformation. UNRWA has 12,000 staff on the ground in Gaza. It is impossible to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza without UNRWA and its teams. We know that all other attempts to replace UNRWA have been disastrous.”
She concluded, “Given the above and the action that the U.N. has taken against these claims, these claims remain as such—claims with huge consequences on the lives of our colleagues, the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and the reputation of this agency.”
A spokesperson informed Digital that “President Trump and Secretary Rubio have long asserted that Hamas will never govern Gaza again. That includes institutions they have infiltrated to sustain their power and influence.”
The spokesperson reiterated the directive from “President Trump’s Feb. 4 Executive Order regarding ending funding or reviewing support for certain U.N. and international organizations,” which declared that “UNRWA has reportedly been infiltrated by members of groups long designated by the Secretary of State as foreign terrorist organizations, and UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.”
Former IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus stated, “UNRWA has proven itself to be irredeemably corrupt, infiltrated by Hamas, and is partly responsible for why Hamas was able to recruit tens of thousands of jihad-indoctrinated youth and sustain itself during two years of fighting.”
He continued, “If we desire a deradicalized Gaza, the primary organization that must be removed from power is Hamas. UNRWA is a close second. Both must have no role in shaping the present or future of Gaza. Now is the time to invest in a better future for Gaza and the region, and the time to remove UNRWA.”
Conricus said that “Ever since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, UNRWA has facilitated Hamas’s military buildup. By diverting international aid meant for the civilian needs of Gaza‘s population, following Hamas guidance, UNRWA enabled Hamas to allocate the majority of its funds towards military development, including digging tunnels, manufacturing rockets, acquiring drones and sophisticated missiles, and paying and training a large force of Jihadi terrorists.”
He further detailed that “Throughout the two-year war, Hamas fighters systematically used UNRWA facilities and infrastructure to support and sustain their military operations against Israel. Hamas underground command posts were exposed directly underneath UNRWA facilities in Gaza City, which included electricity and IT services supplied from UNRWA offices to the underground Hamas bunker. UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip were systematically employed by Hamas as military assembly areas, weapon manufacturing sites, intelligence gathering locations, and sanctuaries for Hamas fighters.”
When questioned about UNRWA’s role, an IDF spokesperson told Digital, “It’s the political echelon’s decision concerning everything regarding the peace deal and post-war details.” Digital reached out to Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson on multiple occasions for comment. Israel’s government in January 2025.