US Lawmakers Clash over UNRWA Funding

By Staff, Agencies

The “Israeli” intelligence "dossier" that alleged ties between Hamas and the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency rippled through Congress on Tuesday, revealing a sharp partisan divide over whether the US should resume funding UNRWA.

“UNRWA is in cahoots with Hamas,” Republican Congress Brian Mast said at the opening of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on UNRWA.

Republican Congress Chris Smith echoed his criticism, alleging that UNRWA was promoting “twisted antisemitism” and “poisoning the minds of children”.

On Friday, the Biden administration announced it would pause funding for the agency after an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal, citing “Israeli” intelligence reports, which alleges 12 members of UNRWA took part in Al-Aqsa Flood.

Since then, Australia, Canada, Italy, Finland, the UK, Switzerland, and the Netherlands have also announced they would halt UNRWA funding.

Palestinian officials and aid workers have warned that the move risks worsening the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Democratic Congressman Jason Crow voiced those concerns.

He warned that “the horrifying and inexcusable actions of roughly a dozen people shouldn’t speak to 13000 UNRWA employees in Gaza”, adding that he had “real concerns” that the decision to halt funding without finding a replacement to UNRWA would harm US national security.

“Conditions in which people are starving, fearful or hopeless do not bring peace. And they will not bring security to ‘Israel’.”

The fallout over the Wall Street Journal article continued to reverberate on social media where some criticized the report, on the grounds that one of the journalists who contributed to the article has close ties to a former member of the “Israeli” military spokesperson’s office.

Social media users on X noted that WSJ contributor Carrie Keller-Lynn is close friends with Aliza Landes, a former soldier in the “Israeli” military spokesperson’s office who helped boost the department's social media presence.

Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of The Intercept, critiqued the WSJ report as "a press release thinly disguised as a news article about an “Israeli” 'intelligence dossier' on UNRWA."