Knesset subcommittee head says UNRWA a key part of Hamas rule in Gaza

The head of a Knesset subcommittee on foreign policy and public relations accuses the UN agency for Palestinian refugees of having a central role in the Hamas terror group, ratcheting up Israeli attacks on UNRWA.

MK Ze’ev Elkin makes the accusation in a statement following a closed-door meeting of the subcommittee to discuss the agency, which has vowed to investigate Israeli allegations that staffers participated in the October 7 onslaught of southern Israel.

“In every meeting of the committee we’ve been exposed again and again to data that proves that UNRWA has become a central part of Hamas’s civilian governance arm,” he says, according to a Knesset statement.

Elkin adds that he is demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others involved “not miss the current window of opportunity to end UNRWA activities in the Gaza Strip as a tool in the service of Hamas.”

The panel will hold another meeting on the agency next week, which will be open to the public.