A report released on Wednesday by UN Watch, a watchdog group that oversees United Nations activities, has uncovered disturbing content in a Telegram group with 3,000 members, all teachers affiliated with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), celebrating and glorifying the October 7 massacre.
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According to UN Watch, an NGO based in Geneva, a Telegram chat group primarily used by UNRWA teachers, who are local Gazans and not foreigners, was replete with praise for the deadly terrorist attack. The group was originally established in March 2020 to discuss the improvement of teachers' occupational conditions and share information about administrative issues.
Since October 7, posts in the group chat have glorified Hamas terrorists as "heroes," discussed the "education" these terrorists received, and even shared photos of the victims they killed. Some posts even called for the execution of hostages.
"This is the mother of all incitement by UNRWA teachers toward jihadist terror," said Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch. According to the organization, UNRWA teachers regularly share videos, photos and messages in the group that incite terrorism.
As of the time of writing, the group is still active, but UN Watch anticipates that UNRWA will soon shut it down due to the exposure of its inciting messages. Neuer posted to X several examples of the celebrations found in the UNRWA Telegram group and has called on the United Nations and its member states to take action against the organization.
One example published by UN Watch showed a teacher named Wassim Ula, who, according to Neuer, manages the UNRWA Telegram group and is known there under the username "Handsome."
In a screenshot that appears to be translated from Arabic to English, Ula writes in a discussion about Hamas' threat to execute hostages in response to bombings in Gaza, "Let's execute the first settler live near." Below his post, a user going by "Yousif's mother" writes: "Be careful, people of the Jews. Their treachery is not safe."
Ula, who also posts information about teachers' salaries in the group, shared a photo of an explosive belt with the caption, "Wait, sons of Judaism." He also referred to a terrorist named Akram Abu Hasanen, who participated in the October 7 attack, as a "The Qassami martyr," a "friend" and a "brother." He prayed to Allah "to admit him to Paradise without judgment."
In previous reports and recent testimonies presented to the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag, UN Watch accused UNRWA teachers of systematically inciting Palestinian children and promoting terrorism and antisemitism. Neuer asserts that these actions constitute serious violations of the UN's code of conduct.
UNRWA has been accused by Israel for many years of perpetuating the Palestinian refugee problem – it is a UN agency dedicated solely to refugees from a specific group – and also of incitement in its schools.
Israel has also recently accused UNRWA of silently allowing, and even facilitating, Hamas's theft of humanitarian aid meant for Gaza. Despite these various accusations, the agency continues to lead the distribution of this aid, and its schools in Gaza serve as shelters for masses of refugees.