Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Elise Stefanik released the following statement following reports that United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employees were directly involved in the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
“It is absolutely shameful and unacceptable that employees at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) had a direct role in the barbaric October 7th attacks against Israel. UNRWA is supposed to be a humanitarian agency, yet their employees are supporting Hamas in its goal to eradicate the Israeli state and carry out genocide against the Jewish people. Unfortunately, this is another devastating consequence of the Biden Administration’s complete incompetence. In 2021, Joe Biden reversed President Trump’s decision to cut off U.S. taxpayer dollars from going to the antisemitic UNRWA. For the last three years Joe Biden’s decision to send U.S. taxpayer dollars to Gaza with no oversight and no accountability has allowed for the proliferation of abhorrent and antisemitic educational materials to be used across Gaza and filled the coffers of Hamas. Now we are finding out that their employees who are funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars were directly involved in the abhorrent October 7th attacks. The Biden Administration’s limited suspension of funds to UNRWA to cover up for their disastrous mistake is unacceptable. Joe Biden must permanently cut off all funding to this antisemitic and violent organization.”