UNRWA Thanks Hamas Terror Chief for ‘Ongoing Willingness to Cooperate’

Palestinian factions on Wednesday said that Matthias Schmale, director of operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, will not be allowed to return to the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. His possibly fireable offense? Telling Israeli media that the IDF’s military strikes on the Gaza Strip appeared to be carried out with “sophistication” and “precision.”

Next, a meeting was held between UNRWA’s Deputy Commissioner Lenny Steinseth and Yahya Al-Sinwar, leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The terrorist group released the following statement of the discussion, during which UNRWA’s ranking representative reportedly expressed solidarity with Hamas*:

For her part, UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General Lenny Steinseth affirmed her understanding of the strong anger of all the Palestinian people recently, and affirmed her solidarity, and offered her condolences to all the Palestinian people on behalf of the Agency, for what they lost in this latest Israeli aggression, and that Schmale’s statements to the Israeli station cannot be defended in any way.

[…]

She also thanked the head of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Al-Sinwar, for his positivity and desire to continue cooperation in facilitating the Agency’s work in the Gaza Strip, especially in these difficult and complex circumstances.”

*Translated paragraphs are excerpts of a longer statement.

Source: Hamas Telegram Channel

This meeting raises serious questions about UNRWA’s very legitimacy. But the agency is riddled by other problems as well: its textbooks inculcate children with hatred of Israel and Jews; it has been caught storing Hamas rockets and missiles in the basements of UN-run schools; there has been rampant corruption and abuse within the body, and much, much more.

For more reading on UNRWA’s past collaborations with Hamas, a US-designated terrorist organization, see:

Does UNRWA Violate International Law?

Following HonestReporting Petition, US Gov’t Reveals True Number of Palestinian Refugees

VICE Perpetuates Palestinian Refugee Myth, Blames Israel For Hamas’ Attack on Women’s Rights

Does Biden Admin’s Proposed Aid to Palestinians Violate US Law?

Buried By NYT, CNN: How Hamas Cashes in on Gaza Conflict

Featured Image: Yahya Al-Sinwar holding a child in a soldier costume on stage with weapons via Getty