More than 10% of principals and senior education staff employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to a report published on Thursday.
The study, by Israeli non-profit organization IMPACT-se, noted that many continued to draw a regular salary after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre. Its publication comes less than two weeks after Israel’s Knesset barred UNRWA from operating in Israel over its terror ties.
For the study, IMPACT-se explored educational practices in five schools whose principals are senior UNRWA education officials, and under two of which (Al-Maghazi Boys Preparatory School B and Al-Zaytun Boys Preparatory School A) Hamas tunnels were found:
- Al Zaytun Boys Preparatory and Elementary School, whose principal, Mohammad Juma Shuwaideh, is a squad commander in Hamas’s Gaza Brigade.
- Al-Maghazi Boys Preparatory School B, where both the principal, Khaled Said Mustafa al-Massri, and deputy principal Ahmad Samir Mahmoud El Khatib are squad commanders in Hamas’s Khan Yunis Brigade.
- Al-Mughraqa Boys Elementary School, whose principal, Raed Khaled Abu Mukhadda, is a member of the Central Camps Brigade of Hamas’s Deir al-Balah Battalion.
- Nuseirat Boys Preparatory C School, which is headed by Mahmoud Faez Sarraj, a member of the Central Camps Brigade, Nuseirat Battalion.
- Ahmad Abdel Aziz Boys Preparatory School, led by Mahmoud Ahmad Hamdan, a Hamas member known to Israeli authorities, who openly promoted the violent “Great March of Return” riots.
IMPACT-se found that the “schools use lessons to deny Israel’s existence, promote hostility, and encourage violent narratives,” and noted that despite past warnings, “UNRWA has taken no meaningful steps to address the glorification of violence or antisemitic rhetoric in these schools.”
The report details hateful material taught in each UNRWA school, under two of which terror tunnels were discovered by Israeli forces, underscoring the profound influence wielded in Gaza by Hamas.
Fifth graders at Al-Zaytun School, for example, were taught to glorify Dalal Mughrabi, the perpetrator of the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre, killing 38 Israelis. Photos of a classroom blackboard show how she is presented as “the fighting leader” and a “hero” to be honored. Similarly, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, for whom Hamas’s “military wing” is named, is described as a “martyr” and “hero.”
At Al-Maghazi School, materials glorify violent acts, including a reference to the firebombing of an Israeli bus as a “barbecue party.” An Arabic language summary states that martyrdom and jihad are “the most important meanings of life.”
“We are deeply concerned, although unsurprised, by the ongoing revelations of terror links within UNRWA’s educational system,” said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff.
“UNRWA has repeatedly failed to act, despite mounting evidence and repeated warnings of the deep influence of terror groups on UNRWA’s schools. This is not just about accountability, but about protecting young minds from an education that fuels hatred and extremism,” he added.
The report notes that Israeli intelligence recently exposed 12 UNRWA principals and deputy principals as active members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
An Israeli intelligence report released in January showed that at least a dozen UNRWA employees actively participated in the Hamas atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and that the agency has 450 “military operatives” belonging to Hamas and other terrorist groups on its payroll.
The revelations prompted 18 countries—led by the United States and Germany, UNRWA’s biggest donors—to suspend funding. With the exception of the United States, all have since resumed or partially resumed funding.
The United States—UNRWA’s largest donor, accounting for some 30% of the agency’s budget—has frozen its donations until at least next year.
During his first term, President-elect Donald Trump cut off all U.S. aid to UNRWA, a move later reversed by the Biden administration.
According to Hillel Neuer, the director of the U.N. Watch NGO, Trump is not likely to restore funding during his second term.
“Especially with the appointment of Elise Stefanik to the United Nations, it is absolutely clear that the Trump administration will not reinstate a single penny of U.S. taxpayer funds for UNRWA,” he told JNS on Thursday. “But they should go further: The United States should work to end the agency and its pathological agenda of perpetuating Palestinians in a state of dependency and grievance, and aiming for the dismantlement of Israel.”
