EU parliamentarians demand: No UNRWA in the reconstruction of Gaza

They point to the UN organization’s links to terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

UNRWA has committed “serious breaches of trust”, the 22 MEPs wrote in an open letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on October 20, 2025. Reconstruction must not repeat the mistakes of the past and must be carried out by partners “who build for peace, not hate”.

Signatories come from Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, France, Spain and Sweden, among others. Sweden and the USA have already discontinued their cooperation with UNRWA, they point out.

The letter refers to numerous UNRWA employees who have been involved in acts of terrorism. UNRWA also uses a unique refugee definition for Palestinians, which makes the status inheritable indefinitely and thus perpetuates the conflict, according to the criticism.

Hard data behind the criticism

The connections of terrorist groups such as Hamas are well documented, for example in the report by the Israel Defense Intelligence (IDI) of April 23, 2025which documents the systematic infiltration of UN organizations. The report emphasizes that UNRWA in Gaza, with over 12,000 local employees, operated a quasi-governmental structure in which Hamas has been able to expand its influence for years. The analysis is based on verified documents and digital data that have been analyzed since the beginning of the Gaza war.

According to IDI, UNRWA employees actively participated in the massacre on October 7. Telephone data, video footage and location signals from teachers, social workers and school principals in Israel were recorded, among other things. UNRWA buildings also play a prominent role in the Hamas military system, according to the report. Under facilities – especially under schools – tunnels, command centers and one of the most important server locations of Hamas intelligence have been discovered, 18 meters under the local UNRWA headquarters, with direct power supply from UNRWA.

Rocket launches in the immediate vicinity of UN facilities are also documented. On October 7 itself, numerous rockets were launched from school grounds or adjacent areas, according to the report. The IDI accuses UNRWA of not having reported a single one of these cases to Israel, although this would be required under international humanitarian law.