Report exposes Hamas infiltration of UNRWA schools in Gaza and Lebanon

A major report by watchdog UN Watch has accused Hamas of hijacking the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), embedding its operatives as school principals, union leaders, and senior educators across Gaza and Lebanon.    

The 120-page dossier, titled Schools in the Grip of Terror, alleges UNRWA knowingly employed Hamas officials for decades, despite public evidence of their terror ties. The Geneva-based organisation says the Western-funded agency, which receives more than £820 million annually, has “institutionalised extremism” rather than neutrality.

“By employing Hamas leaders as school principals and union heads, UNRWA didn’t just tolerate extremism – it turned classrooms into incubators of hate,” the report states.

According to Israeli intelligence cited in the findings, over 15 percent of UNRWA senior educators in Gaza are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Among those named are Suhail Al-Hindi, a Hamas official who also headed UNRWA’s Gaza teachers’ union, and Fateh Sharif, long-time leader of the UNRWA Lebanon Teachers’ Union and a senior Hamas operative.

The report highlights how Hamas-led staff unions repeatedly blocked attempts to discipline teachers, reform textbooks, or introduce Holocaust education. It recounts how Al-Hindi was briefly suspended in 2011 for attending Hamas rallies but reinstated after mass protests paralysed UNRWA services.

UN Watch points to contrasting treatment of international and local staff: in 2021, UNRWA’s Gaza director Matthias Schmale was expelled after remarking Israeli strikes were “precise,” yet Al-Hindi openly praised Hamas leaders while remaining in post for years.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, defended the UN’s record when asked why a Hamas terror chief had long overseen 2,000 UNRWA teachers. “Most people who are engaged in underground organisations try not to have their involvement known publicly,” he said.

The findings follow the scandal over a 3,000-member UNRWA staff Telegram group exposed in 2024, where employees celebrated the 7 October Hamas massacre. An “independent review” led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna acknowledged that UNRWA unions were “politicised” but was criticised as biased.

Despite those conclusions, UN Watch says none of Colonna’s neutrality recommendations have been implemented a year later.

The report comes just weeks after the UK government pledged a further £20 million to UNRWA. Britain is one of the agency’s largest donors.