The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has generated extensive international discussion, with organizations like the United Nations warning of the dire humanitarian and economic impacts.
The latest UN report claims that Israel’s war could erase over six decades of progress in the Gaza Strip, reducing indicators like life expectancy, education, and income to levels seen in 1955. While these concerns are valid, they miss a critical point: the UN’s failure to adequately address the terror activities of Hamas and its indirect support of the group through its agencies, particularly the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The UN’s apparent complicity in allowing terrorist activities to flourish within Gaza under the guise of humanitarianism warrants serious scrutiny.
The UN’s reports highlight the devastation and suffering caused by the Israeli military operations, but often fail to emphasize that these are largely responses to acts of terror by Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. Hamas is a recognized terrorist organization responsible for rocket attacks, suicide bombings, and the killing of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian. In its reports and statements, the UN tends to condemn Israel while neglecting to hold Hamas accountable for its war crimes, human rights abuses, and the exploitation of the very civilians it claims to protect.
In its warnings about Gaza’s “collapse,” the UN often omits the fact that Hamas has diverted enormous resources—often supplied by international aid agencies—toward building its military infrastructure, including tunnels, rockets, and weapons stockpiles, rather than improving the lives of Palestinians. Much of the international aid that pours into Gaza, including contributions from UNRWA, has been used not to alleviate poverty or improve education, but to strengthen Hamas’s military capabilities.
The UNRWA, established in 1949 to provide aid and support to Palestinian refugees, plays a key role in Gaza. While it is ostensibly a humanitarian organization, UNRWA has long been linked to Hamas and other militant groups operating in Gaza. Numerous reports and investigations have revealed that UNRWA facilities, such as schools and hospitals, have been used by Hamas to store weapons, launch rockets, and hide operatives. These connections demonstrate how a UN agency designed to assist civilians has, at times, facilitated terrorist operations.
In 2014, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, three UNRWA schools were found to be storing rockets. Despite these clear violations of international law, the UNRWA has not taken significant steps to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, nor has it conducted thorough investigations into how its facilities were being used for terrorist activities. Instead, it has often shifted the blame onto Israel for the destruction of these facilities during military operations, ignoring Hamas’s illegal use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes.
The problem extends beyond just the use of facilities. There have been numerous instances of UNRWA employees having direct links to Hamas. In some cases, UNRWA teachers and officials have openly supported Hamas’s agenda and ideology, which includes the call for the destruction of Israel. In 2017, it was reported that UNRWA employed individuals with ties to Hamas, including members of its staff who incited violence and promoted antisemitic content on social media. Despite these revelations, the agency has done little to ensure that its employees adhere to strict standards of neutrality, raising concerns about its role in fueling extremist ideologies rather than promoting peace and development.
In 2020, the UN Watch group released a detailed report documenting how more than 100 UNRWA staff members were involved in incitement against Jews, glorifying terrorism, and promoting antisemitism online. These are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern that suggests a failure by the UNRWA to distance itself from the influence of Hamas and extremist elements. The agency has continued to operate with insufficient oversight, creating an environment where terrorism can flourish under the cover of humanitarian aid.
UNRWA’s work in Gaza involves the distribution of food, medical supplies, and educational services, all of which are crucial for the well-being of Palestinians living in the Strip. However, there are widespread allegations that Hamas has systematically exploited these resources for its own ends. For instance, Hamas has been known to confiscate aid supplies and divert them for military use or to distribute them preferentially to its supporters, further entrenching its control over Gaza.
This mismanagement of international aid, combined with Hamas’s stranglehold over the region, has resulted in little tangible improvement for the people of Gaza despite the billions of dollars that have flowed into the region over the years. UNRWA’s lack of accountability and transparency in how aid is distributed has allowed Hamas to manipulate these resources, using them to maintain its grip on power rather than alleviate the suffering of ordinary Palestinians.
While the UN is quick to criticize Israel for its military actions, it has consistently been reluctant to directly confront Hamas’s use of terror tactics. For instance, the group routinely fires rockets from densely populated civilian areas, knowing full well that any retaliatory strike by Israel will likely result in civilian casualties. This strategy is a calculated attempt by Hamas to draw international condemnation against Israel, a tactic that has been alarmingly successful due in part to the UN’s unbalanced approach.
Hamas’s deliberate use of human shields—placing military assets in schools, hospitals, and residential buildings—violates international humanitarian law. Yet, the UN rarely highlights these violations with the same intensity that it uses to criticize Israeli operations. By ignoring Hamas’s exploitation of civilians, the UN effectively allows the group to perpetuate its narrative of victimhood, while deflecting attention from the root causes of the violence: Hamas’s commitment to terror and its refusal to coexist with Israel.
Another concerning aspect of UNRWA’s operations is its role in education. UNRWA runs a vast network of schools across Gaza, where over 300,000 Palestinian children are educated. However, these schools have been criticized for using textbooks and curricula that promote hatred, violence, and the delegitimization of Israel. Multiple studies have found that UNRWA schools teach students a distorted version of history that glorifies “martyrdom” and encourages resistance against Israel through violence.
Despite claims of neutrality, UNRWA has allowed its education system to become a breeding ground for extremism. The failure to provide a balanced and peaceful education to Palestinian children undermines the prospects for long-term peace and stability in the region. By teaching hatred and inciting violence, these schools are not only failing to educate the next generation but are actively contributing to the perpetuation of the conflict.
The UN has frequently accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza, pointing to civilian casualties and the destruction of infrastructure. However, it often turns a blind eye to Hamas’s violations of international law. The group’s use of civilians as human shields, its indiscriminate rocket fire aimed at Israeli population centers, and its recruitment of child soldiers are all clear violations of the Geneva Conventions. Yet, these crimes rarely receive the same attention from the UN as Israel’s defensive military actions.
This double standard undermines the UN’s credibility as an impartial mediator in the conflict. By failing to hold Hamas accountable for its actions, the UN sends a message that terrorism and the abuse of civilian populations are somehow tolerable if they are directed at Israel. This not only emboldens Hamas but also perpetuates the suffering of Palestinian civilians, who are caught in the crossfire of a conflict driven by the group’s extremist ideology.
The United Nations, particularly through UNRWA, has played a significant role in providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. However, its failure to address the links between its operations and Hamas’s terror activities has contributed to the perpetuation of the conflict. By allowing its facilities to be used by Hamas, employing individuals with extremist ties, and failing to ensure transparency in the distribution of aid, the UN has inadvertently sustained a system that empowers terrorists rather than promoting peace.
If the UN is serious about resolving the conflict and improving the lives of Palestinians, it must take a more balanced approach. This includes holding Hamas accountable for its terror tactics, ensuring that UNRWA operates with strict neutrality, and preventing international aid from being exploited by militant groups. Only by addressing these root issues can the UN hope to play a constructive role in bringing peace to the region and ending the cycle of violence that has plagued Gaza for decades.