EXCLUSIVE: As Israeli bulldozers demolished buildings at the UNRWA headquarters on Tuesday—following Israel’s enactment of legislation last year banning the agency’s operations—a new documentary highlights the controversial U.N. agency for its tight ties to Hamas terrorists and lenient oversight that permitted antisemitism to be taught to generations of its students.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini criticized the action against the UNRWA structures, calling it a breach of international law, while Israeli officials stated the compound had not been operational and the demolition was conducted in line with Israeli law.
This development comes weeks after the [blank] voted to extend UNRWA’s mandate until 2029, despite increasing opposition and abstentions from several Western countries. The renewal followed months of controversy surrounding the agency after Israeli officials shared footage showing UNRWA employees taking part in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. Those claims are still being probed, and UNRWA has noted it fired multiple employees in response to the allegations.
During the Gaza war, the Israeli military has also found weapons, tunnel entrances, and other Hamas-related facilities in UNRWA locations, including schools.
last week that UNRWA USA confirmed reports the Trump administration is weighing labeling UNRWA as a foreign terrorist group, and agency officials asked congressional aides to push back against the move.
Last October, Secretary of State Marco Rubio—speaking to reporters in Israel—reaffirmed the Trump administration’s stance toward the U.N. and UNRWA: “The United Nations is here. They’re on the ground. We’re willing to work with them if they can make it work, but not UNRWA. UNRWA became a Hamas affiliate.”
The new untitled documentary is now garnering fresh focus on the agency’s structure, history, and political role.
The film traces UNRWA from its 1949 founding to its current operations. It includes interviews with refugees, Arab and Israeli voices, and former UNRWA officials.
Film participants argue UNRWA has long championed U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194—a 1948 measure Palestinians see as granting refugees and their descendants the right to return to homes inside Israel—an idea the documentary shows has sustained refugee status instead of resolving it.
Zlatko Zigic, former director of the U.N. migration agency from 1997 to 2017, says in the film: “The problem with UNRWA is the concept of Palestinians’ unending fight to return,” adding that maintaining a right of return to Israel has “become a means to keep the conflict going.”
The documentary also includes footage shot inside UNRWA schools, showing classroom lessons where children are told they will eventually return to land inside Israel. In one scene, Jews are called “the wolves,” and a teacher asks young elementary students: “What did the Jews do to us?” before telling them they were forced out and displaced, their families killed, and they should be thankful to UNRWA for building refugee camps for them.
In an interview with [blank] Digital, ex-UNRWA legal counsel James Lindsay—who appears in the film—said that dynamic is central to what he believes is a systemic problem.
“The key oversight issue, I’m pretty sure, is likely at the local level where the governing bodies—here, we’re talking about Gaza—so we’re talking [blank],” Lindsay said. “The people working for UNRWA are answerable to UNRWA, but even more so to the local authorities—in this case, Hamas.”
Lindsay noted that while donor nations might receive detailed documentation and reports, the on-the-ground reality can be quite different.
He said UNRWA leadership has historically not tried to exclude Hamas members from employment, arguing the organization saw Hamas as part of Palestinian political discourse.
“UNRWA has taken no steps to keep Hamas out,” Lindsay said. “The commissioners-general’s stance has been that UNRWA does not have a problem with Hamas.”
He described an environment where local employees and contractors faced intense pressure from Hamas, creating reasons to follow demands rather than risk retaliation.
“If Hamas comes to you and says, ‘We want 5% of the concrete you’re using, or you need to report 5% more food distributed than actual,’ you won’t say no,” he said. “If you don’t do what Hamas says, you won’t get fired—terrible things will happen to you.”
Lindsay said those realities seldom reach top international staff, who make up only a tiny portion of [blank].
“In Gaza, we’re talking about around 12,000 to 13,000 total employees, of whom only about 25 are actual international staff,” he said.
He noted that over time, many humanitarian workers developed a condition the U.S. State Department calls “clientitis”—a phenomenon where aid organizations politically align with the groups they assist.
“Humanitarian organizations have started to align with the people they’re helping,” Lindsay said. “In this case, that means aligning with one faction of the Palestinian political landscape: Hamas.”
Lindsay said he initially thought UNRWA could be overhauled but later decided the agency’s structure made real reform unfeasible.
“It can’t be reformed because the governing officials in control won’t allow it,” he said. “Reforming UNRWA is also hard because UNRWA staff have developed the ‘clientitis’ the State Department mentions.”
He also slammed the agency’s management of educational material, saying teachers in [blank] faced the same threats and pressure as other staff.
“What do people do under a brutal totalitarian regime like Hamas?” Lindsay said. “They won’t risk it.”
Following the General Assembly’s recent vote to extend UNRWA’s mandate, Lindsay said the agency sees the result as a vote of support but noted opposition is increasing.
“In 2022, there was one vote against extending the mandate and 10 abstentions,” he said. “Most recently, there were 10 no votes and 18 abstentions. The trend is turning against UNRWA because of issues that have emerged in recent years—especially since October 7, 2023.”
He added that while UNRWA has wide backing from UN member states, those countries are not the agency’s main donors.
“Most UN countries are anti-Western and definitely pro-UNRWA,” Lindsay said. “But donors are what matter because all funding comes from voluntary contributions—mostly from Western nations, the same countries growing uneasy. That, I think, is a genuine risk to UNRWA’s existence.”