Report: Trump admin determines UNRWA is 'irredeemably compromised,' must be dismantled
'The Administration has determined UNRWA is irredeemably compromised and now seeks its full dismantlement'
The U.S. administration of Donald Trump has taken a first step toward declaring that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the Hamas-linked aid agency, represents a serious impediment to any peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and must be disbanded, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Friday.
Established as a temporary, ad hoc body for the benefit of Palestinian refugees in the aftermath of the 1948 war between Israel and the armies of several Arab states, UNRWA was soon redefined as the seedbed of Palestinian extremism and the revanchist claims about an alleged "right of return," seeking to dismantle Israeli statehood.
According to Israeli parliamentarian and author Einat Wilf, "For 75 years, money, legitimacy, support, services, aid, were given – were funneled – to the perpetuation of the myth that Palestinians are still – uniquely, from all the tens of millions of refugees throughout the 20th century – refugees from a war that we think ended 75 years ago. But they don’t think it ends until they win it to their cause of no Jewish state."
The Free Beacon report cites a non-public notification transmitted to Congress on July 29.
The State Department "has not funded UNRWA since January 2024, does not have any ongoing programming with UNRWA, and is maintaining a policy of minimal contact with" the document reads. "The Administration has determined UNRWA is irredeemably compromised and now seeks its full dismantlement."
It is understood the Trump has fully lost faith in UNRWA after months of revelations that some agency staffers participated in the October 7 massacre.
The move formally codifies the administration's position that UNRWA must be dismantled and starts the process of working toward that goal.