House committee to launch investigation into UN agency for alleged 'troubling connection' to Hamas

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A House Committee is expected to launch an investigation into a United Nations agency that provides aid to Palestinians for alleged ties to Hamas, according to a report.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is planning to investigate the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East, which is also known as UNRWA, according to the New York Post.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told the outlet that there's evidence of a connection between the UN agency and Hamas.

"There is extensive evidence of a troubling connection between UNRWA and Hamas, and it is far deeper than was known," Issa said. "Congress must now investigate and uncover the extent of what UNRWA knew, what it did, and what it may be hiding from the world."

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UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini speaks to media about the Update on the UNRWA Commissioner General Visit to Gaza, the third since the war began on October 7, during the UNHCR Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

Since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel carried out by Hamas, troubling reports regarding the UNRWA have emerged.

One Israeli citizen taken hostage by the Hamas terrorist group said they were held for 50 days inside an attic belonging to a UNRWA teacher, according to the Jerusalem Post.

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Destruction from Israeli airstrikes is seen in Gaza City on Oct. 11. (AP/Adel Hana)

The State Department under former President Trump cut ties with UNRWA in 2018, with the agency calling the organization an "irredeemably flawed operation."

However, President Biden reestablished the relationship in June 2021.

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SOUTHERN ISRAEL - NOVEMBER 22: Smoke from Gaza City fills the sky in the distance as an Israeli tank heads towards the Gaza strip on November 22, 2023, in Southern Israel. The starting time of a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas that would entail a pause in fighting and the release of around 50 hostages still had not been announced as of Wednesday morning. Air strikes appeared to have continued in Gaza in the hours following news of the deal.  (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., who chairs the body's oversight subcommittee, told the Post that "He is also supportive of a probe, to put it mildly."