UNRWA staff praised massacres

(TIMES OF ISRAEL) – Members of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees have expressed praise for the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, according to a Monday report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se).

The report details social media posts by numerous Gaza and West Bank-based staff members, including teachers and educational staff, which expressed praise or approval of the onslaught.

It highlights comments by 14 staff, and examines the participation of UNRWA school graduates in terror attacks against Israelis as well as the presence of antisemitic and jihadist content in textbooks used in UNRWA schools.

Among those highlighted were Ebrahim Al Azaiza, whose Facebook page says he works for UNRWA. On October 7, he posted a video showing cars burning following a rocket strike that hit an Israeli city, with the caption “What a splendid sight!” and happy emojis and fire emojis.

Afaf Talab, another Gaza-based UNRWA teacher, posted a video on November 4 in which the Hamas massacre was described as the “first real victory” on the way to “liberating” all of Palestine, while praising the destruction of Israeli communities.

Ranoosh Salah – who says on her Facebook page that she works at UNRWA’s Gaza Training Centre, which provides vocational training – published a post on October 7 praising the Hamas massacre as it was unfolding, writing “this is an unforgettable glorious morning”.

More broadly, the study found that at least 100 Hamas members who have carried out terror attacks against Israelis in recent years are graduates of the UNRWA education system.

This includes Moaz Saad Al-Masry, one of the Hamas terrorists who killed Lucy Dee and two of her daughters, Maia and Rina, in a shooting attack in the West Bank in April.

The report said over half of Gaza’s 500,000 school pupils attend UNRWA-operated educational institutions, and that the Palestinian Authority curriculum taught in these schools “is replete with antisemitism and encourages violence,” while UNRWA staff add their own harmful educational materials to the curriculum.

“Time and again we have warned that UNRWA staff and school materials have created a breeding ground for terror. Our worst fears have now been tragically realised,” said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff.

“All governments that fund UNRWA … must urgently review and concurrently freeze financial support to UNRWA to help ensure that another generation is not lost to the evils of hatred and incitement.”