The State Department announced it will pause funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) due to allegations twelve employees participated in Hamas’s invasion of Israel on October 7th.
It seems like President Joe Biden is changing his mind a lot regarding the Middle East.
This administration has made some of the stupidest foreign policy moves because their heads are filled with rainbows and gumdrops, and they believe everyone can just get along if you’re nice and Orange Man Bad!
Man. You mean to tell me that former President Donald Trump was correct concerning the Houthis and UNRWA? I am totes shocked. (sarcasm)
Biden’s admin revoked the terrorist label from the Houthis in Yemen in 2021 after Trump designated Houthis a terrorist organization. The justification: “Our action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration, which the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have since made clear would accelerate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
Well, the administration returned the label due to attacks on cargo ships and American warships after October 7: “These attacks are clear example of terrorism and a violation of international law and a major threat to lives, global commerce, and they jeopardize the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”
Trump revoked funding to UNRWA because the admin knew of its hatred towards Israel, and it didn’t spend the money wisely. Anyone with a brain cell knows UNRWA had connections to Hamas.
Biden restored the $235,000,000 funding:
“US foreign assistance for the Palestinian people serves important US interests and values,” Mr Blinken said. “It provides critical relief to those in great need, fosters economic development, and supports Israeli-Palestinian understanding, security co-ordination and stability. It also aligns with the values and interests of our allies and partners.”The United States is committed to advancing prosperity, security, and freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians in tangible ways in the immediate term, which is important in its own right, but also as a means to advance towards a negotiated two-state solution.”
Oh, look. UNRWA faces allegations of participating with Hamas on October 7 when the terrorist group invaded Israel, slaughtered thousands, and kidnapped hundreds.
The State Department said:
The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on January 25 to emphasize the necessity of a thorough and swift investigation of this matter. We welcome the decision to conduct such an investigation and Secretary General Guterres’ pledge to take decisive action to respond, should the allegations prove accurate. We also welcome the UN’s announcement of a “comprehensive and independent” review of UNRWA. There must be complete accountability for anyone who participated in the heinous attacks of October 7.
Shin Bet gave UNRWA and the UN information that showed UNWRA employees participated and used “the agency’s vehicles and facilities during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.”
An Israeli official said, “This was strong and corroborated intelligence. A lot of the intelligence is a result of interrogations of militants who were arrested during the Oct. 7 attack.”
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, fired the staffers allegedly involved in the attack and launched an investigation.
Lazzarini promised the organization would hold any employee who took part in the massacre “accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”
As I said before, anyone with a brain cell knows UNRWA has links to Hamas. Hamas literally controls everything in Gaza.
A Palestinian man said that Hamas controls UNRWA:
In recordings of the phone call, obtained by The Post, the man accused the troubled Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, of being under Hamas’ power, telling an IDF officer that the terrorist group has been hogging all the supplies.“The situation is terrible because the humanitarian people, those responsible for the humanitarian aid, are thieves,” the frustrated Gaza resident said in the recording.“Hamas has their hands on UNRWA administration workers, and it manages UNRWA,” he alleges. “From the day they [Hamas] rose to power they took control of everything.”The man also claimed that Hamas has made sure the incoming humanitarian supplies were distributed to its own people first as opposed to the more than one million civilians who have been displaced by the war.
A report found that “at least 100 Hamas terrorists” who took part on October 7 graduated from the UNRWA education system
Has UNRWA addressed the 3,000 UNRWA teachers who celebrated the massacre? So gross:
The Telegram social media group was originally made to support UNRWA teachers, but after October 7 the participants regularly shared videos, photos and messages inciting jihadi terrorism and openly celebrating the massacre and rape of civilians, alongside the business as usual which contained dozens of files containing names, ID numbers, schedules and teaching materials, as well as information for getting paid.Many examples were provided, such as claiming the group admin was Waseem Medhat Abo El Ula and was on an official UNRWA contract, in one post he shared a photo of a suicide bomb vest wired with explosives, with the caption: “Wait, sons of Judaism,” as well as a video glorifying Hamas attacks.Another example provided by UN Watch was Abdallah Mehjez, who urged Gaza civilians “not to heed warnings to move out of harm’s way,” and instead serve as human shields. Before his UNRWA employment, the English teacher worked for the BBC.
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