Israel is at war with the terrorist organisation Hamas, who carried out the massacre of October 7, slaughtering more than 1200 innocent people, and taking 240 people hostage. Today, Hamas continues to fire indiscriminately at Israelis from the Gaza Strip, and still holds 134 hostages. Our fight is with Hamas. It is not with the Palestinian people.

Israel is committed to facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Crossing in Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel. In addition, a humanitarian aid delivery channel via Jordan is also operational, and more delivery channels are process.

Anyone who wants further information about what Israel is doing regarding the facilitation of humanitarian aid into Gaza: we will gladly elaborate. 

Over the weekend, UNRWA claimed that a food shipment was stuck at an Israeli port due to restrictions from Israeli authorities. This was simply not true. Much of this supply was released and distributed by WFP. Spreading false accusations is simply unacceptable.

You see, the reality is the majority of the aid entering Gaza today is not through UNRWA but through other UN agencies. As you all know, the United Nations has mechanisms which exist to distribute aid in response to crisis and there are UN agencies which are operating and delivering what is required in Gaza, as they do all over the world.

Israel will continue to do what it can to get aid directly to the Palestinian people into Gaza. Humanitarian aid cannot end up in the hands of Hamas.

Hamas has diverted humanitarian aid intended for the Palestinian people for decades. This is how they have built and sustained more 500km of tunnels for years. For once, on October 16th, UNRWA recognized this fact and tweeted that Hamas had stolen fuel from stockpiles. However, it then deleted the tweet and denied this admission. Mr Lazzarini, why was this tweet deleted?

Colleagues,

Recently, Israel shared information directly with the Commissioner General showing the direct participation of UNRWA staff members in the October 7 massacre.

Just to be clear - this is just the tip of the iceberg. Intelligence shows that around 10% of UNRWA employees are members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Testimonies from two released hostages also confirm that hostages were held in the homes of UNRWA teachers. One was moved from hideouts through UNRWA facilities. UNRWA teachers applauded terrorist attacks, including October 7, and encourage antisemitism. The list goes on. How long can the international community continue to fund an organization that is riddled with terrorists?

The fact that Hamas members are embedded in UNRWA is not new. For years, a number of UNRWA employees have been involved in terrorist activities. For years, the UN apparatus has repeatedly shrugged off concerns, deliberately ignored data about Hamas in their ranks, defaming those highlighting concerns. 

UNRWA officials say that they do not know what is happening. Well, let me tell you from my own personal experience - they did know. And they chose to do nothing.

In 2011, as director of the UN department in Jerusalem, I drafted a letter sent to UNRWA informing them that a number of their employees had links to Hamas. To my knowledge, no investigations were ever carried out, and no response was ever given. Two of those listed in that letter are still employed by UNRWA today, one is a teacher and one is a school principal.

In addition, in 2012, another letter was sent to UNRWA informing them of additional names of Hamas terrorists in their ranks. Despite Israel’s intelligence, one of the employees on that list remained as chairman of the UNRWA workers union and as principal of an UNRWA elementary school. He was only forced to resign in 2017, 5 years later, when he was elected as head of the political bureau of Hamas in Gaza. 

Like I said, this is just the tip of the iceberg. These are just two cases where I was personally involved in.

So, you see, the fact that UNRWA supporters carried out the attacks of October 7 is not surprising. UNRWA has employed terrorists for years. Its lack of action in the past, is precisely why Israel has little faith in its willingness to address the grave concerns in the present. Time and time again, it has chosen to turn a blind eye.

Over the weekend, the IDF discovered and exposed a substantial tunnel system and a Hamas intelligence base under UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza. Sitting directly above this underground Hamas data center was the UNRWA server room for their main office. Some of the cables in that room connected down, providing all communication and electricity to the Hamas infrastructure below. UNRWA's headquarters provided everything for Hamas to terrorist infrastructure below. Israel offered senior UNRWA officials to tour the tunnel, but they denied our request. To say that UNRWA staff were unaware of such activities, happening directly below their feet, is simply inconceivable.

The international community continues to support and fund, through UNRWA, Hamas’s strategy of using the people of Gaza as human shields. Hamas's exploitation of UNRWA facilities for military purposes, including storing weapons and constructing tunnels, is well-documented. 

UNRWA's education programs also perpetuate the conflict. We can no longer ignore the incitement to violence and antisemitism within UNRWA schools, where hate is cultivated instead of peace.

At least 3000 terrorists took part in the attacks of October 7. One must raise the question: how many of these terrorists were educated in UNRWA schools? How many were taught to hate from a young age?  How many of them were directly employed by UNRWA?

Commissioner-General how does this align with the UN mission of global peace and security? The Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, Mr. Matthias Schmale, was fired in 2021 for saying that IDF airstrikes were precise, but those who praise terrorists carry on in their roles as teachers of future generations. WHY?

The establishment of an independent review group to assess UNRWA’s neutrality is a positive but long overdue step.

However, the review group should include research institutes with relevant professional experience that includes counter-terrorism, security and vetting procedures.

In addition, the terms of reference of the review group should be defined in clearer terms regarding the need to prevent the employment of members of terrorist groups in the ranks of the organization, and to ensure that UN facilities are not be used for terror purposes.

Simply put, for years, the international community, through funds donated to UNRWA, has paid the salaries of terrorists. How can it ensure this is not the case in the future?

Needless to say, this review committee must also investigate the incitement to violence and antisemitism in UNRWA’s educational system, in textbooks and by its teachers, before and after the October 7 massacre.

Colleagues,

UNRWA is not fit for its purpose. It has terrorists in its ranks. It has tunnels under its headquarters. It teaches hatred in its schools. It perpetuates the conflict. It has become a political tool for Hamas. It is part of the problem, not part of the solution. We cannot allow Hamas to control humanitarian assistance, and because of their integration within UNRWA, they have that control. The international community cannot and should not tolerate or fund a UN Agency actively shielding and enabling terrorist activities in Gaza. 

ENDS​​