UN Watch was quoted by media outlets around the world in August 2026 on various topics, including Iran’s anticipated entry into a UN committee dealing with human rights and our exposure of a UN memorial ceremony honoring deceased Hamas commanders.
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.
