US lawmakers urge White House to demand resignation of UN secretary general, UNRWA chief

In a letter to Blinken sent Wednesday, the lawmakers called for the resignation of Secretary-General António Guterres and UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

The lawmakers also raised concerns over reports of Israeli intelligence assessments that 10 percent of UNRWA’s 13,000 staff in Gaza — the majority of whom are locally employed — have ties to Hamas.

“They can no longer be entrusted to maintain international peace and security, protect all nations, and uphold international law,” the lawmakers wrote.

“We have lost all confidence in Secretary-General António Guterres’ ability to ensure that the U.N. is not actively supporting terrorism or giving refuge to known terrorists.”

The signatories include Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.), Don Davis (D-N.C.), Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Max Miller (R-Ohio), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.).

The Joe Biden administration paused funding for UNRWA in the wake of the organization saying it was launching an investigation into the accusations.

Nearly a dozen other countries have also paused funding for the agency, triggering dire warnings that UNRWA — which also serves Palestinian refugee populations across Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the West Bank — will run out of funds for operations by March 1.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is among the members of Congress who have decried the pause in US funding for UNRWA, arguing it could worsen a humanitarian crisis and that the people of Gaza should not be punished for allegations against a small number of the organization’s employees.

But UNRWA has long been a lightning rod for controversy among Israel’s supporters, who criticize the aid agency’s work in the Gaza Strip as, at least, operating under the influence of Hamas, the de-facto authorities of the territory.

UNRWA stressed it maintains a strict policy of “neutrality”, but acknowledges challenging circumstances in Gaza because of Hamas’s rule. The United Nations has launched an independent review of how the agency ensures its policy of “neutrality” and what processes are in place to respond to instances of policy violations.

While Republicans are united in opposition to UNRWA’s continued operations, some Democrats have called for resuming funding to the aid organization as Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas goes into its fifth month.

They say the aid organization is best placed to respond to immediate needs to help provide shelter, food, water and medicine to the nearly 2 million people in need.