Investigators have already reported at least 17 current and former terror-linked UNRWA staffers to the State Department, preventing them from joining US-funded agencies in Gaza
The chief oversight body responsible for monitoring American foreign assistance has launched an independent investigation into United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staffers’ ties to Hamas, building a blacklist that will prevent them from migrating to other U.N. agencies that may be involved in the Gaza reconstruction project, nonpublic briefing materials reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show.
The U.N. has never designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, so membership in the terror group “would not automatically disqualify an applicant from working on a U.S. taxpayer-funded U.N. program,” according to investigatory documents provided to Congress by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) inspector general’s office, a law enforcement entity separate from USAID. Federal investigators have already given the names of at least three current or former UNRWA employees who participated in the Oct. 7 attack—and another 14 otherwise affiliated with Hamas—to the State Department.
Though Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said UNRWA will not play a role in post-war Gaza, the Trump administration’s 20-point peace plan does authorize the U.N. to participate in the humanitarian aid process. The inspector general is using its investigation, named Operation Stop the Carousel, to ensure that UNRWA’s terror-affiliated employees cannot circulate to the U.N. agencies and other NGOs allowed on the ground in Gaza. Once the investigation identifies Hamas-linked UNRWA employees, the inspector general will report them to federal officials for placement on a publicly available blacklist and potentially refer them to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.
The inspector general’s briefing for Congress comes after the Free Beacon’s report that the U.N. tossed out Israeli intelligence to minimize UNRWA’s relationship with Hamas. U.N. investigators looked into 19 UNRWA employees’ ties to the terror group based on Israel’s findings. The subsequent report portrayed the intelligence as likely authentic yet deemed it “insufficient” to support the termination of 10 of the 19 employees.
The USAID inspector general investigation, by contrast, “will not rely on self-reporting by the U.N. or other organizations, or their vetting processes,” the briefing materials state. “Failure to cooperate with our requests will result in referrals to the administration and the United States Congress.”
The Free Beacon first reported on the initial USAID inspector general probe in August, when investigators documented evidence that Hamas “commandeered U.N. aid trucks,” embedded terrorist operatives in “U.N. agencies or at U.N. facilities,” and ensured humanitarian goods were “directly delivered to Hamas officials.”
The USAID inspector general investigation will “help bring transparency in determining the nature and extent of Hamas interference in the delivery of humanitarian aid intended for civilian populations in Gaza,” a U.S. diplomatic official briefed on the effort told the Free Beacon. “This work is especially necessary at this time as the United States and international community enter a post-UNRWA world and new organizations are selected to provide humanitarian aid and reconstruction for Gaza.”
As the investigation ramps up, the inspector general will seek to ensure Hamas-linked UNRWA staffers are “identified and precluded from working on future U.S.-funded awards so that American taxpayers do not fund the salaries of terrorists,” according to the briefing materials. “Organizations found to have collaborated with terrorist or terrorist-linked organizations, by providing material support through use of facilities, access to information, or other methods, must be referred to the Department of Justice for potential violations of U.S. anti-terrorism laws.”
The effort will also help reverse Biden-era policies that made it substantially easier for Hamas-linked nonprofits in Gaza to access U.S. taxpayer cash, according to those briefed on the matter.
“Investigations like this one are essential to make sure that foreign assistance does not fall into the wrong hands,” a USAID official told the Free Beacon. “It’s clear that under the Biden administration, Hamas-affiliated UNRWA workers were given a free pass, despite clear warnings from the IG.”
Former acting USAID chief operating officer Max Primorac testified to Congress in February and explained how the Biden administration ditched strict vetting procedures to send “vast sums of U.S. money” to terror-tied entities, including those in Gaza.
Upon the beginning of former president Joe Biden’s term in 2021, the State Department pushed through plans to distribute hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer aid to the Palestinians even though internal assessments determined those plans would benefit Hamas, according to internal documents the Free Beacon reviewed in August 2023. A government watchdog group sued the Biden administration the following year for stonewalling an external audit into its Gaza funding schemes.
The USAID inspector general’s office declined to comment on an ongoing investigation.
