Trump Intensifies Scrutiny of UN Agency Amid Alleged Hamas Ties Involving Dozens of Employees

President Donald Trump has drawn renewed attention to a U.S. government investigation that referred more than 100 current and former UNRWA employees over alleged connections to Hamas. The scrutiny comes as a new watchdog report accuses the U.N. agency of overstating the progress of its internal reforms.

The controversy intensified after Trump shared the investigation report on Truth Social in August. It also coincides with a report released Monday by Geneva-based UN Watch, which disputes UNRWA’s assertion that it has completed 41 of the 50 recommendations issued by an independent review headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

After comparing UNRWA’s claims with Colonna’s actual recommendations, UN Watch concluded that no more than 13 of the 50 reforms had been completed as required. The watchdog said the agency repeatedly treated policy drafts, pilot projects and proposed plans as finished reforms, even when those measures had not been fully implemented.

“UNRWA is grading its own homework — and giving itself credit for reforms that exist mainly on paper,” UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer told News Outlet. “A policy is not a reform if it is ignored, unenforced or blocked by staff unions dominated by Hamas.”

Staff vetting is one example highlighted in the report. UNRWA identifies a “Commercial Vetting Pilot & Costed Plan” and other screening initiatives as completed. UN Watch, however, said a pilot program and an implementation blueprint fall short of establishing a fully functioning independent vetting system.

The watchdog also questioned the agency’s claims about education reforms. UNRWA lists systematic textbook reviews and randomized classroom inspections as completed actions, even as its policy banning problematic educational material remains classified as “in progress.”

When Colonna presented her review in April 2024, she said problematic material was still present in educational content. She cited the “glorification of jihad,” incitement to violence and maps that omitted Israel, while urging UNRWA to adopt a zero-tolerance policy.

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At Tuesday’s U.N. briefing, News Outlet asked who independently determines whether the reforms are working in practice. U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric defended the agency’s oversight process.

“It is not just checking boxes for the sake of checking boxes,” Dujarric said. “It’s about the implementation of those things.”

Dujarric said UNRWA provides regular reports to the General Assembly, conducts integrity meetings that member states may attend and gives governments opportunities to examine the agency’s work.

When asked specifically about employee screening, Dujarric said UNRWA partly depends on the countries in which it operates.

“We rely on the member states also, where we operate, who have the capacity to check people to do so,” Dujarric said, adding that UNRWA shares staff lists with Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese and Syrian authorities. “If there are concerns, they need to be shared directly with UNRWA. When they are, they take action.”

The Colonna review was commissioned by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in February 2024 after allegations that UNRWA employees had participated in the Oct. 7 attacks. Guterres accepted all 50 recommendations in April 2024 and agreed with UNRWA leadership to establish an action plan to implement them.

Neuer rejected the idea that the disagreement is merely about terminology.

“This is not a semantic disagreement over the meaning of ‘completed,’” he said. “UNRWA says the job is done, yet teachers tied to terrorist organizations remain in classrooms, Hamas-dominated unions obstruct discipline, and children continue to be exposed to incitement. Those are real-world consequences, not technicalities.”