The State Department could designate the UN agency a ‘foreign terrorist organisation’ following Israeli accusations that its staff took part in the October 7 attacks
December 11, 2025 11:53
The US is reportedly considering hitting Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, with terrorism-related sanctions.
According to the Times of Israel, “two sources with direct knowledge of the matter” said that the Trump administration has held advanced discussions on the matter, apparently prompting “serious legal and humanitarian concerns” inside the State Department.
Established in December 1949, Unwra was only supposed to operate for up to 18 months. However, 76 years later, it has become a key institution of Palestinian society, providing aid, schooling, healthcare, social services, and shelter to millions of Palestinians across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
But the agency has been under the microscope since it was alleged by Israel that a number of its employees took part in the October 7 attack, and later hid some of the hostages.
In January 2024, the Israeli Foreign Ministry sent a letter to Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini naming 100 Unrwa employees, who it claimed were members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Israel claimed this represented only a portion of the UN workers affiliated with terrorist organisations, saying the remaining names were not released “for reasons of confidentiality”.
In the same month, the US, Unrwa’s largest donor historically, halted funding to the agency over counter-terrorism concerns.
Since then, scepticism of the agency within Trump’s administration has grown. In October this year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Unrwa of becoming “a subsidiary of Hamas,”, which has been a designated terrorist organisation in America since 1997.
While a State Department official told the Times of Israel that “everything is on the table,” and “no final decisions have yet been made,” one of the possibilities is that Unrwa will be declared a “foreign terrorist organisation” (FTO).
William Deere, director of the Unrwa office in Washington said the agency would be “disappointed” if this were to happen, adding that it would be “both unprecedented and unwarranted”.
“Since January 2024, four independent entities have investigated UNRWA’s neutrality including the US National Intelligence Council,” he said. “While occurring at different times and from different perspectives, they have all come to the same conclusion: Unrwa is an indispensable, neutral, humanitarian actor.”
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