A new UN Watch report released Wednesday alleges that Hamas leaders have infiltrated and now dominate UNRWA schools in Gaza and Lebanon, despite the United Nations being aware of the problem.
The 218-page investigation, titled Schools in the Grip of Terror, claims senior Hamas operatives simultaneously held positions as school principals, union leaders and educators while promoting terrorism, recruiting children into terrorist activity and obstructing educational reforms, including Holocaust education.
“For years, governments have been writing billion-dollar checks to UNRWA believing they were investing in peace and tolerance,” UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer said. “Our investigation reveals the shocking truth: UNRWA’s classrooms have been hijacked by Hamas and turned into incubators of hate. Donor states must confront the reality that they are financing terror by proxy.”
The report focuses on two key case studies: Suhail Al-Hindi in Gaza and Fateh Sharif in Lebanon, documenting the UN’s alleged failures to address the infiltration.
From 2006 to 2017, Al-Hindi held leadership roles in Hamas while serving as a UNRWA school principal and head of the Gaza Staff Union, overseeing 8,000 teachers and 220,000 students. UN Watch claims the UN ignored Al-Hindi’s Hamas connections, and that he continues to wield influence in Gaza while holding a leadership role in Hamas. Al-Hindi was recently seen meeting senior Hamas leaders and Iranian backers in Qatar.
In Lebanon, Fateh Sharif served as a UNRWA school principal and head of the Lebanon Teachers’ Union, responsible for 39,000 students and 2,000 teachers across 64 schools. Sharif was killed in an Israeli strike on Sept. 30, 2024, and Hamas hailed him as a leader in Lebanon. The report states Sharif openly documented his Hamas ties, including photos with terrorist leaders, while UNRWA took no action.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said, “Most people who are engaged in underground organizations try not to have their involvement known publicly,” a claim UN Watch says the report contradicts.
The report contends that Hamas leaders openly flaunted their affiliations for years and that UNRWA failed to intervene, raising concerns over donor nations inadvertently funding terrorist activity.