Pete Ricketts: “UNRWA is a completely irredeemable organization. Since October 7, we have seen how much Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA, the…”

“UNRWA is a completely irredeemable organization. Since October 7, we have seen how much Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinians. In fact, some have called UNRWA a front organization for Hamas. UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 attacks. Some participated in the attacks directly. Some helped with logistics. One hostage alleges that her captor was an UNRWA teacher. Another UNRWA staffer was actually a commander who participated in an attack on a kibbutz that left 97 people dead and took 26 hostages. Regrettably, this does not come as a surprise. Because of previous U.N. investigations into UNRWA, we knew this was true before the October 7 attacks. We knew that UNRWA was using schools to store weapons and launch attacks on Israel. We knew that their textbooks preached hate toward Jews and Israel and glorified martyrdom. I introduced this amendment because funding an organization like UNRWA that is so deeply embedded in Hamas is wrong. Our U.S. taxpayer dollars should not be going to fund an organization that is essentially a front for Hamas. This Chamber's ultimate goal should be to permanently defund UNRWA--defund it the way the Trump administration did.…”