UN Watch investigation finds the agency substituted paperwork and promises for meaningful change

GENEVA, 14 September 2026 — UNRWA’s claim to have completed 41 of the 50 reforms recommended by the landmark Colonna Review substantially overstates the changes achieved on the ground, according to a major new report released today by UN Watch.

The “Report Card on UNRWA Reform” examines UNRWA’s implementation of every recommendation issued by the Independent Review Group led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

Commissioned by UN Secretary-General António Guterres following revelations that UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 massacre and amid the suspension of $450 million in donor funding, the Colonna Review was intended to determine whether the agency’s neutrality safeguards were “fit for purpose” and to restore donor confidence.

Two years later, UNRWA says that 41 recommendations are completed. Yet UN Watch’s analysis finds that UNRWA frequently measured administrative activity instead of meaningful reform. At most, the new report concludes, 13 of Colonna’s 50 recommendations have actually been completed as prescribed.

“UNRWA has graded its own homework and awarded itself high marks,” said UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer. “But issuing a policy is not the same as enforcing it. Drafting a plan is not the same as implementing it, and closing a recommendation does not mean that the underlying problem has been solved.”

“On paper, UNRWA reports sweeping progress. On the ground, its employees continue to be exposed as members and supporters of terrorist organizations, hateful educational content persists, and Hamas-dominated unions continue to obstruct neutrality and discipline.”

Key Findings

• UNRWA redefined what counts as completion. Under its “Minimum Viable Product” methodology, UNRWA allows itself to classify a recommendation as completed once it considers the recommendation’s “core functional objective” achieved—even where further measures remain necessary and the reform has not been fully institutionalized.
• UNRWA still lacks a demonstrated system for screening its workforce for Hamas membership. Its principal sanctions screening relies on the UN Security Council Consolidated Sanctions List, which does not list Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
• External investigations continue to uncover what UNRWA’s internal systems missed. In June 2026, the USAID Office of Inspector General referred 108 current or former UNRWA personnel for suspension or debarment based on evidence linking them to the October 7 attacks or Hamas’s military wing. Days later, UNRWA dismissed 70 Gaza employees following a security assessment, while insisting that the dismissals did not validate the allegations against them. See also UN Watch’s statement on the dismissals.
• UNRWA closed union reforms that were never implemented. The agency classified revisions to its Staff Union Statute as completed after merely drafting and transmitting a proposed statute, even though the unions had not adopted it. Yet within months of this supposed reform achievement, the UNRWA Gaza Staff Union—still under unchanged leadership—mobilized against the dismissal of the 70 terror-linked employees and demanded their reinstatement. UN Watch’s report Schools in the Grip of Terror documents how Hamas-linked officials continue to dominate UNRWA staff unions.
• One recommendation was closed as “unimplementable.” Recommendation 46 called for outsourcing union pay-setting functions. UNRWA determined that the measure could not be implemented, yet still counted the recommendation as closed.
• Vetting reforms remain dependent on funding. UNRWA closed recommendations concerning commercial screening and the vetting of union officials after developing pilots and costed plans, although the actual systems had not been fully deployed.
• Educational reform is measured by procedures rather than content. UNRWA cites reviews, digital platforms, teacher training and engagement with UNESCO as evidence of progress, while post-Colonna assessments by IMPACT-se continue to identify antisemitism, glorification of terrorism and incitement in the 2025–2026 Palestinian Authority curriculum used in UNRWA schools.
• Training cannot prevent deliberate military misuse of UNRWA facilities. The Colonna Review acknowledged that UNRWA lacks the policing, military and investigative capabilities required to detect weapons, tunnels and military activity at its installations. New policies and awareness programs do not remedy this fundamental incapacity. The standard inspection regime still does not operate normally in Gaza, where the most serious allegations have arisen.
• UNRWA declared a “cultural shift” completed while describing it as ongoing. The agency classified all recommendations on enhanced cooperation as complete even as its own reporting acknowledged that the required institutional transformation remained underway.

Structural Failure, Not a Paperwork Problem

The report finds that many of the Colonna recommendations proposed potentially useful administrative improvements. However, they did not adequately address the deeper institutional causes of UNRWA’s neutrality crisis: terrorist infiltration among personnel, Hamas influence over staff unions and schools, the agency’s inability to investigate clandestine affiliations, and an institutional culture deeply embedded in the Palestinian political struggle against Israel.

“The central question is not how many policies UNRWA has written, training sessions it has conducted or recommendations it has marked complete,” Neuer said. “The question is whether UNRWA can prevent its schools, staff and facilities from serving terrorism and incitement. The evidence examined in this report shows that it cannot.”

“The Colonna process was designed to reassure donors. Our report tests that reassurance against the evidence—and finds a profound gap between reform claimed and reform achieved.”

UN Watch called on donor governments not to rely on UNRWA’s self-reported completion figures when deciding whether to resume or continue funding. Governments should require independent verification of each claimed reform and assess whether it has produced measurable changes in staff conduct, educational content, union activity and the protection of UN facilities.

“Donor states were promised reform,” Neuer said. “Instead of delivering proof of results, UNRWA offers policies on paper, pilot projects awaiting funding, or recommendations closed by administrative decree.”

The report concludes that UNRWA’s failures cannot be repaired through managerial adjustments. Its mandate, workforce and role in Palestinian society are inseparable from a political project that perpetuates refugee status, the claimed “right of return” and rejection of Israel. UNRWA employs more than 28,000 people, overwhelmingly locally recruited Palestinians, while only about 120 staff are international.

“The Colonna reforms cannot make politically neutral an institution whose fundamental structure and purpose sustain the grievances and ideology exploited by Hamas,” said Neuer. “Humanitarian assistance for needy Gazans must continue, but it should be delivered through institutions capable of operating independently of terrorism and the political perpetuation of the conflict.”

The Report

The full report, Report Card on UNRWA Reform: An Evaluation of the Agency’s Claims Against the Evidence on Implementation of the Colonna Report, is available here.  Related UN Watch resources include the UNRWA Terror Network and Schools in the Grip of Terror.

About UN Watch

UN Watch is a Geneva-based independent human rights organization accredited in special consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Founded in 1993, UN Watch monitors the performance of the United Nations according to the principles of its Charter and advocates for victims of human rights abuses worldwide.

The post New Report: UNRWA Claims Reform While Terrorism and Incitement Persist appeared first on UN Watch.

GENEVA, September 9, 2026 — China today launched an extraordinary attack against UN Watch at the United Nations Human Rights Council, accusing the Geneva-based human rights organization of “fabricating lies” and “maliciously smearing China” after UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer questioned Beijing’s $100,000 contribution to the mandate of a senior UN human rights expert.

The Chinese delegation invoked its right of reply after Neuer challenged George Katrougalos, the UN’s Independent Expert on “the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order,” over a report that repeatedly praises China while ignoring the victims of Beijing’s repression.

Katrougalos also serves as Chair of the Coordination Committee of UN Special Procedures, the body representing and overseeing the UN Human Rights Council’s independent experts, including special rapporteurs.

“Mr. Katrougalos, your report mentions China 33 times,” Neuer told the Council. He cited passages portraying China as a “central actor” defending international order, President Xi Jinping as the “new guardian of global rules for free trade,” and Chinese discourse as “closely aligned with the UN Charter” and “peaceful coexistence.”

“If your report is truly about human rights, then where are China’s victims?” Neuer asked.

He challenged Katrougalos to explain why the report omitted the mass detention, forced labour and religious persecution of Uyghurs; Beijing’s suppression of Tibetan culture, language and religion; imprisoned Hong Kong democracy activists such as Jimmy Lai; jailed lawyers, journalists and dissidents; mass censorship; the surveillance state; and China’s threats against Taiwan.

Neuer also questioned Katrougalos about China’s decision to contribute $100,000 to his UN mandate.

“Why did Beijing choose you? What exactly did its money finance? Did it support this report? Who funded your two trips to China, mentioned on page 2 of your report?” Neuer asked. “Will you acknowledge that such funding creates a conflict? Will you commit today that all China’s money will be returned?”

UN Expert Responds With Personal Attack

Katrougalos did not answer why his report excluded China’s victims, whether Beijing’s money supported the report, who financed his China trips, or whether the Chinese contribution would be returned.

Instead, he launched a lengthy attack against UN Watch, accusing the organization of conducting a “smear campaign” against UN experts and the United Nations as a whole. (UN Watch recently released a 100-page investigation finding that the UNHRC’s experts have abandoned the role of independent monitors and are advancing politicized agendas that erode the credibility of the international human rights system.)

Katrougalos claimed that UN Watch had “misinterpreted or doctored” passages from his report, although he acknowledged that it referred to China 32 times. He defended his favorable account of Chinese-backed “multipolarity” by invoking recent comments by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Though Neuer never mentioned the Middle East in his speech, Katrougalos’ reply accused UN Watch of denying what he called “the genocide in Gaza,” alleged that the organization had orchestrated a “campaign of lies against the United Nations,” and declared that UN Watch had become a “champion of antisemitism.”

Katrougalos insinuated that UN Watch was a “GONGO” (a government-organized NGO) and attacked its funding, without his ever addressing the Chinese government’s documented $100,000 contribution to his own mandate, as documented in the UN’s disclosure on 2025 funding.

“Mr. Katrougalos responded to questions about China’s funding and human rights abuses by attacking the organization that asked them,” said Neuer. “He spoke at length, yet said not one word to reply to our question on why his report, supposedly on human rights, managed to cite China 32 times without ever raising the Uyghurs, Tibetans, Jimmy Lai or China’s other victims.”

“He did not explain whether Beijing’s $100,000 financed his report or his travel to China. Instead, the chair of the UN’s human rights experts called a Jewish-led human rights organization a ‘champion of antisemitism.’ This was not an answer. It was a grotesque inversion, and an attempt at intimidation and diversion.”

Beijing Attacks UN Watch, Says Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong Are “Purely China’s Internal Affairs”

The Chinese government then exercised a right of reply to denounce UN Watch’s intervention.

“This morning, certain NGOs fabricated lies and maliciously smeared China’s economic cooperation with UN Special Procedure mandate holders, which we firmly reject,” the Chinese delegate told the Council.

China defended its cooperation with the UN human rights system, cited its payment of more than 20 percent of the UN budget and contrasted its conduct with that of a “major country” that had withheld its contributions, an apparent reference to the United States.

The Chinese delegate also rejected international scrutiny of abuses in Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, declaring them “purely China’s internal affairs.”

He insisted that China’s treatment of ethnic minorities was characterized by “equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony.”

China did not explain why it selected Katrougalos’s mandate to receive $100,000, what activities the money financed, whether it supported the report, or whether it paid for either of his two visits to China.

“The sequence was revealing,” said Neuer. “We asked a UN expert why his report glorified Beijing, erased its victims and benefited from $100,000 in Chinese funding. The expert called us ‘antisemitic.’ China accused us of ‘fabricating lies.’ Neither answered our questions. The world has a right to know. We are demanding that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres provide full disclosure and transparency on how China’s direct funding was used in connection with a supposedly independent report replete with praise of Beijing.”

“China’s intervention only underscores the need for full transparency concerning government funding of supposedly independent UN human rights mandates,” Neuer added. “When an authoritarian regime finances a mandate whose report subsequently praises that state while ignoring its political prisoners and persecuted minorities, the public is entitled to clear answers.”

UN Watch called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Volcker Turk to disclose:

• Every expenditure financed by China’s $100,000 contribution to Katrougalos’ mandate;
• Whether any of the funds supported Katrougalos’s report or related research;
• Who financed Katrougalos’s two visits to China;
• All communications between Chinese officials, the mandate holder and UN staff concerning the contribution; and
• What safeguards were implemented to protect the mandate’s independence and prevent actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

Watch the complete exchange here:

3/ Katrougalos’ response:

❌ Not 1 word on the Uyghurs, Tibetans, Jimmy Lai or China’s other victims.
❌ No answer on China’s $100,000 donation or his trips there.
❌ Instead, a false harangue attacking UN Watch’s independence—and calling us a “champion of antisemitism.”

Watch: pic.twitter.com/fDukNaDj12

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 9, 2026

4/ Then 🇨🇳 Beijing's delegate joined in, exercising a Right of Reply:

China accused UN Watch of “fabricating lies” and “maliciously smearing China’s economic cooperation with UN Special Procedure mandate holders, which we firmly reject.”

“China has always constructively… pic.twitter.com/Y9yGpIT1Uy

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 9, 2026

The post China Attacks Watchdog at United Nations After Questions Over $100,000 Payment to UN Expert’s Mandate appeared first on UN Watch.

GENEVA, September 2, 2026 — Ahead of the United Nations’ planned “Durban 25” commemoration on September 28, UN Watch and NGO Monitor today published a video panel of experts examining how the notorious 2001 World Conference Against Racism became a global forum for antisemitism and the demonization of Israel.

The event brought together leading figures who witnessed and confronted the Durban conference and its aftermath: former Canadian justice minister and attorney general Prof. Irwin Cotler; former UN Watch chair David Harris, now Executive Vice Chair of ISGAP; Yad Vashem chief historian Prof. Dina Porat; NGO Monitor President Prof. Gerald Steinberg; and UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer.

The speakers warned that Durban’s legacy continues to shape the systematic targeting of Israel at the United Nations and in international civil society.

“What happened at Durban was truly Orwellian,” said Cotler. “That was a tipping point for the laundering of antisemitism at the UN. What emerged from Durban was the metastasized, newly legalized antisemitism under the cover of the UN.”

“This singling out of Israel has continued to metastasize since,” he added. “Durban is the ‘Mein Kampf’ of today.”

Harris recalled with pride the Sept. 3, 2001 decision by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to withdraw the American delegation from the conference:

Today I have instructed our representatives at the World Conference Against Racism to return home. I have taken this decision with regret, because of the importance of the international fight against racism and the contribution that the Conference could have made to it… I know that you do not combat racism by conferences that produce declarations containing hateful language, some of which is a throwback to the days of “Zionism equals racism;” or supports the idea that we have made too much of the Holocaust; or suggests that apartheid exists in Israel; or that singles out only one country in the world—Israel—for censure and abuse.

Harris explained how the Durban campaign refined the strategy behind the UN’s infamous 1975 “Zionism is racism” resolution.

“Whereas the 1975 effort on Resolution 3379 was a Soviet-Arab concoction, 2001 and thereafter was much more sophisticated: wrapping its agenda in a mantle of political progressivism, of the language of human rights,” said Harris. “The basic strategies and tactics employed then in Durban, and honed in the months leading up to Durban, continue until today with the BDS movement.”

Porat, who attended Durban as a member of the Israeli delegation, described how a conference that was supposed to confront racism abruptly turned against Israel and the Jewish people.

She recalled asking a senior European delegate how this had happened. His answer, Porat said, was startlingly candid: former colonial powers feared demands for compensation from countries they had once ruled, and therefore found a convenient diversion.

“‘The simple solution to this problem was to pick on Israel and the Jews,’” Porat recalled him saying. “He said it so simply and so openly that he left me speechless. That was a blunt and exact explanation of what happened at the Durban Conference.”

Steinberg reviewed the 25-year history of the Durban process and its role in enabling nongovernmental organizations to promote campaigns accusing Israel of racism, apartheid and other international crimes.

Neuer traced Durban’s ideological origins to the UN General Assembly’s 1975 “Zionism is racism” resolution, which he described as the institutional launch of the campaign to portray the Jewish state as inherently illegitimate and racist.

“The UN should be apologizing for Durban—not celebrating it,” said Neuer. “Unless the September 28 meeting unequivocally repudiates the antisemitism that engulfed the 2001 conference and renounces the discriminatory elements of the Durban Declaration that single out Israel, every democracy should refuse to participate.”

The 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa, descended into scenes of open antisemitism. Jewish participants were harassed, antisemitic literature was distributed, and the parallel NGO Forum adopted a declaration branding Israel a “racist, apartheid state” and calling for its international isolation.

In 2021, following a campaign led by UN Watch, 38 democracies refused to participate in the UN’s Durban IV anniversary event.

UN Watch has launched a petition and is now calling on those governments—and other democracies—to withdraw from the September 28, 2026 commemoration.

Watch the full panel on Durban 25

About UN Watch

UN Watch is a Geneva-based non-governmental organization dedicated to holding the United Nations accountable to the principles of its Charter and promoting human rights for all.

The post Experts Condemn Durban’s 25-Year Legacy of Antisemitism, Urges Democracies to Boycott UN Anniversary appeared first on UN Watch.

As the 25th anniversary of the World Conference Against Racism is set to take center stage at the United Nations this month, former Canadian Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler outlines the historical trajectory and lasting global impact of the 2001 Durban conference.

“I can still hear the chants at Durban… the struggle against apartheid requires a dismantling of Israel.”

The post 25 Years After Durban: Irwin Cotler on the Institutionalization of Antisemitism appeared first on UN Watch.

Ahead of the UN General Assembly’s planned “Durban 25” celebration on September 28, UN Watch and NGO Monitor hosted a special event to remember the notorious hatefest that was the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism, in Durban, South Africa.

NGO Monitor President Prof. Gerald Steinberg addressed the 25-year history since the Durban conference.

UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer discussed the UN’s 1975 “Zionism is racism” resolution and the institutional launch of Israel’s demonization as a “racist” state.

David Harris, Executive Vice Chair of ISGAP and former Chair of UN Watch, detailed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s decision to withdraw the United States from the conference.

Prof. Dina Porat, chief historian at Yad Vashem, recounted the hostility faced by the Israeli delegation and the NGO Forum’s refusal to acknowledge antisemitism.

Prof. Irwin Cotler analyzed how Durban weaponized human rights language to launder institutional antisemitism under the protective cover of the UN.

Irwin Cotler: “This was going to be the first international human rights conference where anti-racism was going to be the theme. What happened at Durban was truly Orwellian. That was a tipping point for the laundering of antisemitism at the UN. What emerged from Durban was the metastasized, newly legalized antisemitism under the cover of the UN. This singling out of Israel has continued to metastasize since. Durban is the Mein Kampf of today.”

David Harris: “Whereas the 1975 effort on Resolution 3379 (“Zionism is Racism”) was a Soviet-Arab concoction, 2001 and thereafter was much more sophisticated: wrapping its agenda in a mantle of political progressivism, of the language of human right. The basic strategies and tactics employed then in Durban, and honed in the months leading up to Durban, continuing until today with the BDS movement.”

Dina Porat: “I was a member of the Israeli delegation to Durban. Instead of dealing with the burning problem of genuinely confronting racism, which was increasing in Europe after the waves of immigration, Israel and the Jewish people were put on the table. So I went up to the Belgian representative, who was chairing the sessions, and said: ‘Could you tell me what is going on? How did it, with a snap of a finger, turn against us?’

He took me aside, as though explaining something so obvious. He said: ‘Listen, most of the countries that have delegations representing them — from South America, Africa and the Far East, mainly those that were under colonial rule — see racism very differently. They don’t see the problems that we see in Europe today or in North America. They remember, and cannot forget, what happened during colonial times. And what they want to use the conference for is to obtain compensation for what they suffered under colonial rule.’

‘Just imagine,’ he told me, ‘what would happen if Spain had to compensate so many countries in South America, Portugal had to compensate Brazil, and we Belgians had to compensate the Congo. We all know what Belgium robbed from the Congo.’

‘So I tell you frankly: The simple solution to this problem was to pick on Israel and the Jews.’

He said it so simply and so openly that he left me speechless. That was a blunt and exact explanation of what happened at the Durban Conference.”

The post 25 Years After Durban: The Lasting Impact of the UN World Conference against Racism appeared first on UN Watch.

Appeared on Fox News Digital, August 14, 2026:

“Lunatics Running the Asylum: That the UN would empower the Islamic Republic of Iran—one of the world's most misogynistic regimes—to a body addressing women's rights is, frankly, Orwellian. The most disturbing part is that many Western states went along.”
— Hillel Neuer @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/micylL0AQX

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) August 18, 2026

Key Quote:

 That the UN would empower the Islamic Republic of Iran—one of the world’s most misogynistic regimes—to a body addressing women’s rights is, frankly, Orwellian. The most disturbing part is that many Western states went along.

Appeared on ILTV, August 5, 2026:

Key Quote:

The very idea of UNRWA today is to teach millions of Palestinians — whether they’re in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, or Jordan — that their mission in life is to dismantle Israel. That is the essence of UNRWA.

Featured on Welt TV, August 18, 2026:

.@welt: “In its annual memorial ceremony, the UN apparently honored a Hamas terrorist. Imad El Samhouri, [UNRWA] teacher in Gaza, was also a member of Hamas. UN Watch released a ‘martyr’ video of him in which he can be seen wearing a uniform and carrying various weapons.” pic.twitter.com/CHLUgMmHvv

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) August 17, 2026

Key Quote:

In its annual memorial ceremony, the UN apparently honored a Hamas terrorist. Imad El Samhouri, [UNRWA] teacher in Gaza, was also a member of Hamas. UN Watch released a ‘martyr’ video of him in which he can be seen wearing a uniform and carrying various weapons.

Quoted in Fox News,“UN watchdog slams potential election of Iran to panel with human rights sway: ‘Lunatics running the asylum’,” August 14, 2026: 

Sadly, at the United Nations today — an organization founded after World War II out of great idealism to bring international peace — it is a case of the lunatics running the asylum. You have the Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime that beats, blinds, tortures, rapes, and imprisons women for standing up for their rights or showing a few strands of hair.

Quoted in Fox News, “Watchdog demands apology after UN memorial erroneously honors Hamas terrorist,” August 26, 2026:

The deeper problem is that the international leadership of UNRWA and of the U.N. rarely act. This is hardly a vetting oversight — it’s a system failure. UNRWA has demonstrated that it is either unwilling or unable to remove Hamas terrorists from its schools. UNRWA cannot be reformed; it must be dismantled if Gaza is ever to be deradicalized and given a real future for peace and success.

Quoted in Welt, “Baerbock honors 136 killed UN staff members – including a Hamas fighter,” August 17, 2026:

Hillel Neuer, director of UN Watch, called on Guterres and Baerbock to retract their tribute to El Samhouri: “Will you apologize for lighting a flame to honor a Hamas terrorist commander at a recent UN ceremony?” Neuer wrote in an open letter on the UN Watch website.

Featured in The Hill, “An ‘insane’ job: Election heats up for next UN secretary-general,” August 17, 2026:

UN Watch, a nongovernmental organization describing itself as combating anti-Israel prejudice, antisemitism and racism at the United Nations, urged the Security Council to reject Bachelet’s bid, criticizing her for refusing to call out dictators and failing to condemn antisemitism during her human rights tenure.

Featured in The Daily Wire, “Top U.N. Brass Lit ‘Eternal Flame’ For Hamas Terror Commander,” August 18, 2026:

In an explosive open letter penned last week, U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer demanded that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and U.N. General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock issue an immediate retraction and a public apology to the victims of Hamas.

Quoted in The Jerusalem Post, “UN helped Iran expand anti-drug crackdown despite execution concerns,” August 17, 2026:

Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, added that the UN “should not be helping Iran’s brutal regime catch people whom it may then torture into confessing and execute after sham trials.” He noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s “fundamentalist government routinely denies defendants due process, and has dramatically increased executions for drug offenses, including in cases raising grave questions of innocence and coerced confessions.”

Featured in The Australian, “Hamas lies swallowed by the woke West,” August 17, 2026:

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has been a staunch defender of UNRWA. On June 11, UNRWA sacked another 70 workers, yet refused to acknowledge the sackings were linked to Hamas membership even though UN Watch supplied information suggesting 400 staff are Hamas members.

Featured in Neue Zürcher Zeitung, “Growing doubts about lists of journalists killed in Gaza: how the difficult data situation becomes a weapon in information warfare,” August 10, 2026:

The debate was sparked by a report published on July 8 by the Geneva-based human rights organization UN Watch. In it, the organization, which is considered close to Israel, accused UNESCO of publicly honoring at least seven men killed in the Gaza Strip as journalists, even though they were later identified as members or officials of terrorist organizations.

Quoted in Bild, “Baerbock honored slain Hamas terrorist,” August 15, 2026: 

According to Neuer, El Samhouri was part of a network of more than 400 UNRWA employees with terrorist contacts. He presents the results of his organization’s simple research on social media: countless posts glorifying terrorism by the alleged school principal. Neuer’s further accusation: children in UNRWA schools continue to be indoctrinated with hatred and terrorism.

Featured in Ynet, “Francesca Albanese cries defamation to Elon Musk on X over UN Watch chief’s ‘Hamas spox’ label,” August 25, 2026:

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has accused UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer of ‘outright defamation’ after he described her as ‘Hamas’s de facto spokesperson’ at the United Nations, escalating a long-running public feud between the two.

Quoted in JNS, “Amnesty: India’s weapons shipments to Israel suggest ‘complicity’ in ‘genocide’,” August 11, 2026: 

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, told JNS that “Amnesty’s accusation is an obscene inversion of truth.The only attempted genocide was Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre. Had they not been stopped, Hamas terrorists would have continued slaughtering Israelis,’ he said, referring to the Palestinian Arab invasion of southern Israel, and the ensuing atrocities and hostage-taking that launched the war in 2023.”

Quoted in The Jewish Chronicle, “The UN leader lit a candle for a Hamas commander – the organisation is ‘no longer fit for purpose’,” August 26, 2026: 

El Samhouri was not a man leading a double life with any great subtlety. His social media accounts, still publicly available, show him posing with Hamas officials and celebrating the kidnapping and murder of Jews. In his capacity as an educator, he brought Hamas figures into UNRWA schools to address the pupils and preside over ceremonies, and scouted and recruited children into Hamas-linked organisations. UN Watch lists him within a network of more than 400 UNRWA staff with documented terror ties. As Hillel Neuer, its executive director, asked in an open letter to Guterres and Baerbock this month, how many UNRWA teachers must emerge from Hamas tunnels before the UN concedes that the terrorists are not merely beneath its schools but inside them?

Featured in Frankfurter Rundschau, “Baerbock honors UN staff – now there is a serious suspicion,” August 16, 2026: 

UN Watch cites footage allegedly showing El Samhouri in combat gear with assault rifles and hand grenades as supposed evidence. According to UN Watch, he is said to have stated in a video: “Death in the path of Allah is our highest goal,” as reported by RUHR24. UN Watch chief Hillel Neuer stated that the alleged connections were already publicly known.

Featured in Jüdische Allgemeine, “UN honors slain Hamas commander,” August 17, 2026:

In an open letter, UN Watch Director Hillel Neuer calls for an independent investigation into how a Hamas commander was able to run UNRWA schools for more than a decade – and who within the agency knew about it or should have known. He urges Guterres and Baerbock to apologize to the victims of Hamas, to disclose all UNRWA staff members whose links to terrorism have been proven, and to hold those in charge accountable. He also calls for the retraction of El Samhouri’s commendation.

Featured in Makor Rishon, “From Hamas tunnels to UN corridors: The affair that embarrasses UNRWA,”  August 18, 2026:

Hamas was proud of him as a field commander, in the documentation he was seen armed and coming out of tunnels, but at the UN he was presented as a teacher and school principal who fell in the line of duty — now UN Watch is demanding an independent investigation, an apology and the revocation of the honor given to him.

Quoted in News 12/Mako, “‘Zionism is racism’: Inside the well-oiled machinery of the obsession with Israel at the UN,” August 27, 2026:

Since October 7, the situation has only gotten worse. “It is impossible to overstate how completely biased the UN is today against the West, against the United States and especially against the State of Israel,” Neuer claims. At the Human Rights Council, where he speaks regularly, the agenda is structured in a distorted way: “There is one day for the whole world, and there is one day against Israel. There is no item on the agenda for North Korea, none for Iran, and none for what Russia is doing in Ukraine. There is no other country in the world that is targeted in this way. It is systematic.”

Featured in Maariv, “‘Get out of here’: Ben Gvir and Tali Gottlieb lost patience in the debate on UNRWA,” August 3, 2026:

As a reminder, about a month ago, UN Watch called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to immediately lift any immunity enjoyed by the outgoing UN official, so that competent national authorities can investigate and prosecute him for alleged complicity in terrorism, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The request was submitted in a formal legal letter relying on Article 20 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN. The letter argued that immunity exists solely to protect the interests of the UN — not individual officials — and should be lifted.

Quoted in Ruhr24,“Baerbock at the center of it: Explosive suspicion at memorial service,” August 18, 2026:

UN Watch chief Hillel Neuer addressed the case in an open letter to Guterres and Baerbock, which was published by UN Watch. According to him, El Samhouri’s alleged terrorist connections were publicly known. “There must be no immunity, no impunity, and no ‘eternal flame’ for terrorists who infiltrate the United Nations,” Neuer is quoted as saying. According to UN Watch, El Samhouri was part of a network of more than 400 UNRWA employees with terrorist ties.

Featured in Libero Quotidiano, “UN commemorates Hamas terrorist,” August 17, 2026: 

The NGO UN Watch, led by Hillel Neuer, lifted the veil on this affair by sending an open letter to UN leaders and Western governments. Neuer simply asks: the teacher-terrorist’s social media profiles were public and featured photos with Hamas leaders and posts glorifying the kidnappings. How is it possible that no one within the agency knew?

Featured in News.de, “Annalena Baerbock: Controversy after NGO allegations – former foreign minister allegedly honored Hamas terrorists,” August 22, 2026:

Another recording shows the UNRWA school director apparently exiting a Hamas tunnel. According to UN Watch, he says: “Praise be to Allah for the tunnels; the Zionist enemy has no idea that we will emerge from the depths of the earth, from the rubble.” UN Watch chief Hillel Neuer emphasized that these alleged links to Hamas were already publicly known before the commemoration. Neuer addressed his criticism in an open letter not only to Guterres, but also directly to the former German foreign minister.

Featured in Just Security, “U.N. Secretary-General Candidates May Agree More than They Differ on the Way Forward,” August 5, 2026:

While the power of the veto hasn’t changed, the contest is more publicly visible today. The 2016 race introduced public hearings and candidate dialogues, and the current contest is already producing organized campaigns for and against individual candidates. UN Watch, a vocal critic of the U.N., has urged the Council to reject Bachelet’s bid, Republican lawmakers have called on the United States to veto her, and U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz has publicly questioned her fitness for the role.

Quoted in All Israel News, “UN official Albanese, UN Watch chief clash over ‘Hamas spokesperson’ claim,” August 26, 2026:

“Francesca Albanese cannot refute the facts of her record, so she resorts to crying ‘outright defamation’ and trying to get X to censor the truth on her behalf,” Neuer argued. “For years we have documented that Albanese functions as Hamas’s de facto spokesperson at the United Nations,” he added, accusing her of repeatedly “inverting the Holocaust,” invoking antisemitic tropes concerning Jewish power and the “Jewish lobby,” and “justifying” or “contextualizing” the Oct. 7 massacre.

Quoted in Nuevo Mundo Israelita, “Sánchez accused Israel of causing famine. Now he’s subjecting Moroccan migrants to starvation,” August 7, 2026: 

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, commented on this blatant hypocrisy in a sarcastic statement on X, along with a link to an article about Spain’s appalling treatment of migrants. “Thank you for lecturing the world on international law, humanitarianism, and that ‘public responsibility also implies a moral obligation not to look the other way,’” he noted, quoting Sánchez verbatim.

Quoted in Jüdische Allgemeine, “Following pro-Israel song: Boy George fires his record label manager,” August 3, 2026:

Hillel Neuer, director of the Geneva-based organization UN Watch, declared: “Boy George, you had the courage to stand up for truth and humanity while others marched with the crowd. Now the United Nations must hear your voice. I will do everything in my power to ensure that this happens.”

Quoted Brasil En Folhas “UN watchdog criticizes potential inclusion of Iran in committee,” August 14, 2026:

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, based in Geneva, declared that Iran is one of the last governments with influence in the organization. He stated that the situation at the UN represents “madmen running asylum,” citing the Iranian regime for violence against women who defend their rights.

The post UN Watch in the News — August 2026 appeared first on UN Watch.

UN Chief Guterres Admits Special Rapporteurs Are “Totally Out of Control” – After Privately Calling Francesca Albanese a “Horrible Person”

GENEVA, August 27, 2026 — In a Financial Times interview, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres responded to charges of institutional anti-Israel bias at the world body by conceding that many of its independent special rapporteurs “are totally out of control.”

Asked about Israel’s argument that the UN as an institution is biased against it, Guterres replied: “There are different entities in the U.N. and I cannot respond for the U.N. in its entirety because there are many entities in the U.N. that are independent. We have independent rapporteurs and we have many that are totally out of control, from the point of view of the Secretariat.”

The admission comes after Guterres privately described UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese as a “horrible person” – twice, according to then-U.S. Special Envoy on Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt. Lipstadt revealed that Guterres made the remarks to her during a conversation at the 2024 Munich Security Conference after she raised U.S. concerns about Albanese’s record.

Albanese, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022, has drawn widespread condemnation from the United States, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, and others for antisemitic rhetoric, comparisons of Israel and its leaders to Nazis, denial of Israel’s right of self-defense, and other statements that violate the UN Code of Conduct for special rapporteurs.

Despite the private criticism and public distancing by Guterres’ office earlier this year – when his spokesperson stated that the Secretariat “doesn’t agree with much of what she says, and wouldn’t use the language that she uses” – the Secretary-General has never publicly denounced her or called for her removal.

Guterres’ own words now effectively corroborate the findings of UN Watch’s 104-page investigation From Watchdogs to Ideologues, released on  May 26, 2026. That report examined 13 of the UN Human Rights Council’s 59 Special Rapporteurs – more than a fifth of the system – and documented a systemic pattern of ideological bias, financial conflicts of interest with authoritarian regimes, and conduct that would end careers in any other institution.

Among the cases detailed: Alena Douhan received $1.3 million from China, Russia and Qatar while defending those regimes; Ben Saul took $150,000 from China while remaining silent on the Uyghur persecution; Tlaleng Mofokeng declared “Hamas are not terrorists”; and others systematically attacked democracies while shielding dictatorships. The report found no meaningful mechanism to remove or discipline such mandate-holders. Three months later, the Secretary-General himself has confirmed that many of these rapporteurs are “totally out of control.”

“Guterres’ interview is a rare moment of candor,” said Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch. “For years the UN has described its special rapporteurs as the ‘crown jewels‘ of the UN human rights system. Now the Secretary-General himself admits many of them are ‘totally out of control.’ The most egregious example is Francesca Albanese, whom he privately called a ‘horrible person’ yet refused to rein in. This is not about independent experts but rather it is institutional failure — which fuels antisemitism and undermines the credibility of the entire United Nations human rights system.”

UN Watch has repeatedly documented how the special procedures system has been captured by ideologues who systematically single out Israel while ignoring far worse abuses by dictatorships. The organization has called for fundamental reform, including greater accountability, transparent funding rules, and mechanisms to remove mandate-holders who breach the Code of Conduct.

Guterres’ term ends in December 2026. UN Watch urges member states and his successor to treat the Secretary-General’s own words as a mandate for urgent change: special rapporteurs who are “totally out of control” cannot continue to speak in the name of the United Nations.

BREAKING: Secretary-General admits anti-Israel bias among UN's human rights experts, saying “many rapporteurs are totally out of control.”

António Guterres previously called UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese “a horrible woman.” pic.twitter.com/ozaPx8ncH3

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) August 26, 2026

The post UN Chief Guterres Admits Special Rapporteurs Are “Totally Out of Control” — After Privately Calling Francesca Albanese a “Horrible Person” appeared first on UN Watch.

In December 2006, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan delivered one of the most candid assessments ever heard from the world body about its handling of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Speaking with unusual clarity, he rejected the legitimacy of terrorism, condemned the double standards that single out Israel, and warned that endless one-sided resolutions only deepen distrust and achieve nothing for the Palestinians. Nearly two decades later, his words remain a powerful indictment of the very patterns that continue to dominate and subvert UN bodies.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Palestinians and their supporters will never be truly effective if they focus solely on Israel’s transgressions, without conceding any justice or legitimacy to Israel’s own concerns, and without being willing to admit that Israel’s opponents have themselves committed appalling and inexcusable crimes. No resistance to occupation can justify terrorism.”

“We should all be united in our unequivocal rejection of terror as a political instrument. I also believe that the actions of some United Nations bodies may themselves be counterproductive. The Human Rights Council, for example, has already held three special sessions focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict. I hope that the Council will take care to handle the issue in an impartial way, and not allow it to monopolize attention at the expense of other situations where there are no less grave violations, or even worse ones.”

“In the same vein, those who complain that the Security Council is guilty of a double standard — applying sanctions to Arab and Muslim Governments, but not to Israel — should take care that they themselves do not apply double standards in the other direction, by holding Israel to a standard of behaviour that they are unwilling to apply to other States, to Israel’s adversaries or, indeed, to themselves.”

“Some may feel satisfaction at repeatedly passing General Assembly resolutions or holding conferences that condemn Israel’s behaviour. But one should also ask whether such steps bring any tangible relief or benefit to the Palestinians. There have been decades of resolutions. There has been a proliferation of special committees, sessions and Secretariat divisions and units. Has any of that had an effect on Israel’s policies, other than to strengthen the belief in Israel and among many of its supporters that this great Organization is too one-sided to be allowed a significant role in the Middle East peace process?”

“Even worse, some of the rhetoric used in connection with the issue implies a refusal to concede the very legitimacy of Israel’s existence, let alone the validity of its security concerns. We must never forget that Jews have very good historical reasons for taking seriously any threat to Israel’s existence.”

“What was done to Jews and others by the Nazis remains an undeniable tragedy, unique in human history. Today, Israelis are often confronted with words and actions that seem to confirm their fear that the goal of their adversaries is to extinguish their existence as a State and as a people.”

— UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Dec. 12, 2006

“Some may feel satisfaction at repeatedly passing General Assembly resolutions or holding conferences that condemn Israel’s behaviour. But one should also ask whether such steps bring any tangible relief or benefit to the Palestinians…”
— UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan pic.twitter.com/fvvkYnFzl1

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) August 25, 2026

The post The Speech the UN Would Rather Forget: Kofi Annan on Israel and Double Standards appeared first on UN Watch.

In a response on X to a featured post by UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer, Albanese wrote: “Calling me Hamas Spokesperson is outright defamation, something one might expect from a decent platform that breaks its own rules, but perhaps not from Twitter’s current patron. Am I right, @Twitter?”

Rather than address the extensive public record of her statements and conduct, Albanese is effectively calling on Elon Musk, the owner of X, to censor criticism of her pro-Hamas actions and statements.

Neuer replied directly: “Please sue me, Ms. Albanese. As you are a non-lawyer, let me explain: Truth is an absolute defense. I repeat: You are Hamas’s de facto spokesperson at the UN. I would love to put your record before a court. Of course, to sue me, you’d have to admit you know exactly who I am.”

In anticipation of such a court case, Neuer posted a series of evidentiary “exhibits,” including:

• Albanese’s own statements minimizing and “putting in context” Hamas’s October 7 massacre while it was underway, blaming Israeli “aggression.”
• Her repeated justification and praise of Hamas as a political force that “built schools, public facilities, hospitals” and her claim that eliminating Hamas is part of a “genocidal logic.”
• Multiple instances of senior Hamas officials publicly praising and thanking Albanese for her UN reports and speeches, along with calls to boycott the “rogue Zionist entity.”

Neuer said:

“Francesca Albanese cannot refute the facts of her record, so she resorts to crying ‘outright defamation’ and trying to get X to censor the truth on her behalf. This is the classic tactic of those who abuse the language of human rights while whitewashing terrorists.”

“For years we have documented that Albanese functions as Hamas’s de facto spokesperson at the United Nations. She has repeatedly inverted the Holocaust, invoked classic antisemitic tropes about Jewish power and the ‘Jewish lobby,’ justified or “contextualized” the October 7 massacre, and received open praise from Hamas leaders. Multiple democratic governments—including the United States, France, Germany, and Canada—have condemned her for antisemitism and Holocaust inversion. She is the first UN expert in history to receive such rebukes from these countries.”

“Truth is an absolute defense. If Albanese believes she has been defamed, she should sue me. I invite her to put her full record before a court of law. Discovery would expose many of her private antisemitic emails and Whatsapp messages that are well known among UN insiders. Until then, her demand that Elon Musk, as the owner of the X platform, should silence accurate criticism only underscores how far she has fallen from any pretense of impartiality or integrity.”

UN Watch has long tracked Albanese’s pattern of conduct, including her appearances before audiences linked to Hamas, her refusal to condemn Palestinian terrorism while systematically demonizing Israel, and her violations of the UN Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate Holders. The organization has repeatedly called for her removal and documented that her purported term renewal was carried out in violation of UN rules.

The post Francesca Albanese Cries “Defamation,” Demands Elon Musk Censor Hillel Neuer For Calling Her “Hamas’s De Facto Spokesperson” appeared first on UN Watch.

At a UN memorial ceremony on June 8, 2026, both officials helped light an eternal flame honoring fallen UN personnel, with El Samhouri’s name read aloud before them.

According to a Hamas martyr video, El Samhouri served as a field commander in the Muhammad al-Shamali Battalion of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades. The footage shows him emerging from terrorist tunnels and declaring that jihad was his chosen path:

El Samhour’s publicly available social-media record also documented close ties to Hamas officials, glorification of terrorism, and the use of UNRWA schools to host Hamas figures and steer students toward Hamas-linked organizations.

In the open letter below, Neuer demands an independent investigation into how a Hamas commander was permitted to run UNRWA schools for more than a decade—and who within the agency knew or should have known. He also calls on Guterres and Baerbock to apologize to Hamas’s victims, disclose all UNRWA employees found to have terrorist ties, and hold accountable the supervisors and senior officials responsible.

Meet Imad Yousif El Samhouri, veteran UNRWA teacher and school principal.

L: Samhouri honored by UN chief Antonio Guterres
R: Samhouri in Hamas terrorist martyr video

Samhouri’s terror ties were known. 🧵⬇️

Why are 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇬🇧🇳🇴🇳🇱🇨🇭🇮🇹🇨🇦 funding terrorists to teach Palestinian kids? pic.twitter.com/7e4WmR3rfQ

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 13, 2026

Open Letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UNGA President Annalena Baerbock from Hillel Neuer

Dear Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
Dear UNGA President Annalena Baerbock,

Will you apologize for lighting a flame at a recent UN ceremony to honor a Hamas terrorist commander before the world?

Will you finally acknowledge that UNRWA is simply unwilling or unable to root out the terrorists who have taken over its schools?

On June 8, 2026, on the one-year anniversary of UNRWA teacher Imad El Samhouri’s death, you lit an eternal flame to “pay tribute” to his memory and that of other UN “family members.”

(His name was read out in front of both of you, at 27:45 in this video, as seen here.)

But El Samhouri was not only a teacher and principal in multiple UNRWA schools. He was a military commander in the Hamas terrorist organization, seen with grenades, machine guns, and coming in and out of terror tunnels.

When wearing his UNRWA educator uniform, your colleague brought Hamas officials into UNRWA schools to address students and preside at ceremonies. He used your schools to scout and recruit “talent” for Hamas-linked clubs.

A quick glance at your colleague’s social media—photos of him with Hamas officials, posts glorifying the kidnapping and murder of Jews—shows that he was hiding in plain sight. UNRWA officials and colleagues knew.

According to a recently-published martyr video, Hamas confirmed that the UN colleague whom you honored—as “fallen in the line of duty”—held the rank of Hamas Field Commander in the Muhammad al-Shamali Battalion of the Al-Qassam Rafah Brigade.

The UNRWA teacher and school principal whom you honored is seen in the video declaring that “Death in the cause of Allah is our highest aspiration.”

Excellencies, is this not the complete antithesis of the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines the right to life?

The person who served as a UN teacher and principal at multiple Gaza schools for over a decade said, “We have chosen Jihad as our path.”

Excellencies, is this not a betrayal of the United Nations Charter, whose preamble calls on us to “practice tolerance and live together in peace”?

The UNRWA teacher for whom you lit the eternal flame says, “Praise be to Allah [for] the tunnels… the Zionist enemy never imagines we will emerge from beneath the ground, the rubble.”

Excellencies, how many UNRWA teachers must emerge from Hamas tunnels before you admit that the terrorists are not merely beneath UNRWA’s schools, but actually inside them?

Excellencies, if an UNRWA children’s school principal emerging from Hamas tunnels does not compel you to confront the agency’s terrorist infiltration, what possibly will?

Secretary-General Guterres, I must remind you: not only did you honor this UNRWA teacher with the eternal flame, but you said that it was “the privilege of my life” to work alongside people like him; that you “commit to carrying forward their work”; that people like El Samhouri “made our world a better place.”

Now that the man you praised has been exposed as a Hamas field commander, do you stand by those words? Is Imad El Samhouri’s work—the jihad, the terror tunnels, the indoctrination of children—the work you intend to carry forward?

Will you retract your tribute, apologize to the victims of Hamas, and order an independent investigation into how a terrorist commander was allowed to run UNRWA schools for more than a decade?

Mr. Secretary-General, will you hold to account—including by supporting criminal prosecutions on charges of material support for terrorism—all of the complicit UNRWA colleagues, supervisors, and high officials including Philippe Lazzarini?

President Baerbock, this is also a question for you. During the years you served as Germany’s foreign minister, your government provided UNRWA with €570 million ($620 million). Germany was one of the agency’s largest donors.

Madam President, after committing nearly €570 million of German taxpayer money to UNRWA, how did you fail to discover that one of its longtime school principals—working as part of a network of more than 400 other UNRWA staff—was openly involved with Hamas?

In our UN Watch reports, we warned your government multiple times.

Why did you resume funding UNRWA before demanding genuine accountability for its terrorist infiltration?

Will you now acknowledge that Germany’s assurances about UNRWA oversight were catastrophically wrong?

Will you apologize for joining in the tribute to the Hamas commander your government helped employ?

Excellencies, please be aware that we will be writing to the foreign ministers of all UNRWA donors—including the European Union (which gave UNRWA $134 million last year) Germany ($119M), Spain ($38M), Norway ($38M), France ($31M), Ireland ($21M), Denmark ($21M), Swiss ($17M), Netherlands ($16M), Luxembourg ($16M), Belgium ($13M)—to urge their government to stop funding Hamas terrorists as UNRWA teachers and school principals who teach hate and jihad to Palestinian children.

We urge you to retract the tribute to Imad El Samhouri, apologize to the victims of Hamas, commission a genuinely independent investigation, and disclose the identities of every UNRWA employee found to have terrorist ties, as well as every supervisor and senior official who knew or should have known.

There can be no immunity, impunity, or eternal flame for terrorists who infiltrate the United Nations.

Sincerely,
Hillel C. Neuer
United Nations Watch
Geneva, Switzerland

Dear Secretary-General @antonioguterres,
Dear President Annalena Baerbock @UN_PGA,

Will you apologize for lighting a flame at a recent UN ceremony to honor a Hamas terrorist commander before the world?

Will you finally acknowledge that UNRWA is simply unwilling or unable to… https://t.co/A23p3LTxjN pic.twitter.com/lGEf3ShdBD

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 14, 2026

Transcript of El Samhouri’s Hamas martyr video:

[Song] O free men marching toward Jerusalem, Who is like you, O people of sacrifice? O procession of the pure, O martyrs from among our noble people. With love and greetings Heroes of the Flood.

Samhouri: “This is the roadmap to liberation and glorious victory we trace it with our blood and chart it with steadfast resistance.

A morning’s or evening’s journey in the cause of Allah is better than this world and all it contains. The call to arms has resounded in the hearts of the faithful and they have answered the call. Allah is the Greatest. Here I am for you, O Holy City. Here I am, O site of the Messenger of Allah’s Night Journey.

Here I am for you, O beloved Palestine. The suns of my beloved have set; they dismounted and departed. We press on in our jihad, our hearts yearning for Al-Quds Al-Sharif, our eyes fixed on our heroic prisoners, and the plight of the refugees alive in our hearts.

We have chosen jihad as our path; our anthem is that Death in the cause of Allah is our highest aspiration, and our resolve will not waver, no matter how long the road or how great the sacrifices. Our grief is deep—so be patient.

They were here; we were together, but they have departed from this place. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds who has honored us with the tunnels and made them a means of resistance a means by which the Zionist enemy never imagines we will emerge from beneath the ground, from beneath the rubble, from between the demolished homes.

With my heart, my soul, and my conscience, my brothers, I weep for you. I see you, layer upon layer, O our refuge.

Companions on Allah’s path in this life you are our pride this life is our pride. My family and my brothers, by Allah, I love you with a love known only to Allah; but this is the call the call to jihad, which the prophets the righteous, and the martyrs answered and they charted the path for us with their blood.

In conclusion, I bear witness I bear witness before Allah the Exalted and Glorious that I have forgiven everyone who has wronged me even with a single word. My brothers, this will was written on Tuesday, December 11, 2007.

This was not my first will— it may be my second or third in 2007 at 4:25 p.m. And as you depart, my heart, once desolate is now satisfied. Your brother, a living martyr, Allah willing: Abu Yusuf, Imad Yusuf al-Samhouri.

The suns of my beloved have set; they dismounted and departed. And my heart, once desolate, has now found solace.”

6/ Evidence from Samhouri's network confirms that UNRWA became a subsidiary of Hamas.

Muhammad Al-Bardawil headed UNRWA's Rafah Prep School B for Boys. His deputy Samhouri was a Hamas Commander.

They repeatedly brought Hamas terrorists into the school: https://t.co/4l5HVZzVq0 pic.twitter.com/lJkTDuIEaZ

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 13, 2026

The post UN Leaders Lit an Eternal Flame for a Hamas Commander appeared first on UN Watch.