U.S. officials are investigating approximately 1,500 current and former employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) for alleged ties to terrorism, according to U.S. officials. The investigation, conducted by the USAID Office of the Inspector General (OIG), aims to identify individuals connected to Hamas and other foreign terrorist organizations operating in Gaza.

A senior U.S. official described the USAID OIG investigation as crucial, stating that it has "smartly picked up where the U.N. failed" by looking beyond participation in the Oct. 7 attacks to uncover broader links to terrorism. This effort aims to ensure that U.S. taxpayer funds are not used to support individuals who are members of designated terrorist groups.

In a press release, the USAID OIG detailed that individuals referred for debarment from receiving U.S. funds included school principals, teachers, security personnel, counselors, and medical professionals. Among those referred were deputy school principals who allegedly served in Hamas command roles, a teacher described as having expertise as a sniper for Hamas, and a school principal assigned to a Hamas military manufacturing unit with a tunnel shaft beneath his school.

The investigation has led to the referral of 108 current or former UNRWA staff members to the State Department for suspension or exclusion from working with entities that receive U.S. funding. These individuals were found to have been involved in the Hamas invasion of southern Israel or were members of terrorist groups. The State Department has already banned Hafez Mousa Mohammed Mousa, an UNRWA school principal allegedly working with the Hamas East Jabaliya Battalion and coordinating communications during the Oct. 7 attacks, from future work with U.S. government entities.

These findings come amid ongoing concerns from U.S. officials regarding the alleged infiltration of UNRWA by Hamas and terrorist sympathizers. U.S. Ambassador for UN Management and Reform, Jeff Bartos, stated at a June UNRWA funding meeting that it was time to "break this cycle" and questioned whether donors would continue to "underwrite an organization that has become a subsidiary of Hamas."

In response to the ongoing investigation and concerns, the Board of Peace posted on X that UNRWA "has no place in the new Gaza." An official briefed on developments with the Board of Peace expressed significant concern over the USAID OIG's findings, stating that an institution purportedly delivering aid but allegedly participating in and supporting terrorism is "anathema to creating a safe and prosperous Gaza."

Senator Jim Risch, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has also called for action to address what he described as "systemic radicalization in UNRWA facilities," vowing to work with the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. to "root out the terrorist links at the U.N."

Hamas was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department in 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group in 2001. The USAID OIG indicated that further referrals to the State Department and potential criminal referrals to the Department of Justice are expected.