Watchdog Demands UN Apology Over Hamas Terrorist Memorial

A candle-lighting memorial for United Nations staff members who died while serving the global organization in 2025 has drawn scrutiny after one of the honorees was later identified by Hamas as a commander in its armed wing.

The annual June ceremony paid tribute to 136 U.N. employees who lost their lives in service in 2025. Secretary-General António Guterres, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock and then-Security Council President Leonor Zalabata Torres took part in lighting a candle meant to symbolize “an eternal flame.” As a violinist played mournful music, an official read the name of Imad Youssif El Samhouri among the fallen U.N. personnel.

El Samhouri had worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, first as a teacher and associate principal and later as principal of UNRWA Rafah Preparatory Boys School B. On Aug. 8, Hamas named El Samhouri on the messaging platform Telegram as a field commander in the Al-Qassam Brigades.

Speaking at the memorial, Guterres said that “more U.N. colleagues have been killed in Gaza than in any other conflict or disaster in the history of the United Nations. Some died alongside their families, in their homes, in the places they sought refuge. Others were killed while carrying out their duties in offices, in shelters, and in communities they served. These tragedies weigh heavily on us all and should be remembered by the entire world. Let me be clear. U.N. personnel must never be targeted.”

Guterres added, “In keeping with long-standing practice, we have sought the consent of families to read aloud the names of those we honor. Tragically, in the case of men who served with UNRWA, we could not reach those families because they, too, have been killed or forced to flee.”

The tribute has prompted criticism from Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, who sent an open letter to Guterres and Baerbock urging them to apologize and to recognize that UNRWA is “unwilling or unable” to remove terrorists from its schools.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for Guterres, told News Outlet during a press briefing last week, “[UNRWA] and we are always very deeply concerned when allegations against the former staff is raised. Obviously, when his name was included, the agency was not aware. I will remind you that the list of all UNRWA staff is shared with the Israeli parties as they are every year. His name was shared in the list of 2024. No concerns were raised based on that information from the Israeli side, and obviously, had those allegations been raised before, his name would likely not have been included.”

When pressed further about whether Guterres would retract the honors or issue an apology, Dujarric seemed to put the blame on Israel, “We’re now stating our position, which makes it clear. Had we known, and had we been told, his name would probably not have been included.”

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told News Outlet, “It is outrageous to watch the U.N. spokesperson struggle to clearly condemn the crimes committed by former UNRWA employees. Israel repeatedly warned the U.N. that active Hamas terrorists were operating within UNRWA and played a significant role in the atrocities of Oct. 7. The U.N. spokesperson’s response reflects Secretary-General Guterres’ entire tenure: the organization has lost its moral compass. It is because of terrorists like Imad Youssif El Samhouri and others that Israel ended UNRWA’s operations in Israel.”

Neuer has accumulated multiple social media posts that he says are attributed to El Samhouri, which demonstrate his support of so-called Palestinian martyrs, his praise for the kidnapping of Israeli teens, and his support for the “good news” of Hamas attacks between 2012 and 2014. 

El Samhouri’s case is one of about 200 cases that senior fellow at UN Watch Salo Aizenberg told News Outlet he has cataloged in which terror groups shared posthumous proof that journalists, NGO personnel, aid workers, lawyers and medical personnel were part of their organizations. Citing the Institute for Palestine Studies, which says El Samhouri was killed June 8, 2025, when Israeli forces targeted his tent with no warning, Aizenberg noted on X that El Samhouri was “using the cover of the humanitarian zone as a human shield” when he was targeted.

In a martyr video viewed by News Outlet that the Israel Defense Forces provided, El Samhouri stands before multiple grenades and a weapon and states that “the call to arms has resounded in the hearts of the faithful and they have answered the call.” He also says that “we have chosen jihad as our path; our anthem is that Death in the cause of Allah is our highest aspiration, and our resolve will not waver, no matter how long the road or how great the sacrifices.” 

In the same video, while standing within what appears to be an underground tunnel, El Samhouri thanks God, “who has honored us with the tunnels and made them a means of resistance, a means by which the Zionist enemy never imagines we will emerge from beneath the ground.”

Neuer told News Outlet, “Samhouri publicly glorified terrorism, circulated Hamas battlefield propaganda and brought Hamas officials into UNRWA school life. Photographs show his own principal, Muhammad Al-Bardawil, repeatedly appearing at school events with Jumaa Al-Ghoul, Hamas’ representative in Rafah.” He said, “The evidence shows clearly that many officials in the UNRWA school system knew about Samhouri’s support for terrorism and ties to Hamas, and that they actually tolerated or even encouraged it.”

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El Samhouri is far from the first UNRWA employee exposed for support of Hamas. Neuer added that “in UN Watch’s network map of more than 400 UNRWA employees, Hamas terrorists and their supporters have served as school principals, teachers and leaders of UNRWA’s powerful staff unions. Hamas influences UNRWA hiring and promotions, mobilizes strikes to protect extremists and intimidates international managers whenever even mild disciplinary action is attempted. Hamas pays some of its agents by getting them hired by UNRWA.”

According to Neuer, “The deeper problem is that the international leadership of UNRWA and of the U.N. rarely act. This is hardly a vetting oversight — it’s a system failure. UNRWA has demonstrated that it is either unwilling or unable to remove Hamas terrorists from its schools. UNRWA cannot be reformed; it must be dismantled if Gaza is ever to be deradicalized and given a real future for peace and success.”

UNRWA did not respond to News Outlet’s questions about El Samhouri’s social media activities, or whether his employment with the agency was further proof of its infiltration by Hamas.

The USAID Office of Inspector General is currently investigating 1,500 UNRWA employees for possible ties to Hamas. Thus far, the USAID OIG has referred 108 UNRWA staff to the State Department, requesting they be suspended or barred from further cooperation with organizations that receive U.S. funding.

A senior State Department official told News Outlet that “USAID OIG’s independent and ongoing investigation is revealing the pervasive extent to which UNRWA has aided and abetted Hamas. The investigation demonstrates that UNRWA hired droves of Hamas-linked terrorists and turned over their infrastructure to the terrorist group.”

The official stated, “This can never happen again, and other U.N. agencies would be wise to study the USAID OIG’s ongoing work to understand how to avoid a repeat.”