USAID Inspector General Refers 101 UNRWA Staff for Debarment Over Oct. 7 Role
A federal watchdog's referral of more than 100 aid agency employees for suspension from U.S. funding marks a significant escalation in congressional and executive scrutiny of UNRWA's personnel...
The U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Inspector General has submitted the names of 101 United Nations Relief and Works Agency staff members for suspension or debarment from receiving U.S. taxpayer funds, citing their documented "participation" in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people, according to reporting confirmed by the New York Post on June 8, 2026. The referrals were made through formal debarment and suspension procedures governed by 2 C.F.R. Part 180, which bars individuals and entities found to have engaged in conduct posing risk to federal programs from receiving U.S. government funds.
The USAID Office of Inspector General, an independent watchdog within the executive branch, conducted the investigation that produced the referral list. Debarment and suspension proceedings, once initiated, are adjudicated by the relevant federal agency's debarring official, whose determination becomes part of the government-wide System for Award Management (SAM.gov) exclusions database. The specific evidentiary basis for each of the 101 referrals has not been made public as of the date of this report.
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Congress has maintained active oversight of UNRWA funding since the October 7 attack. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 (P.L. 118-47) included a provision prohibiting U.S. contributions to UNRWA through March 2025, a restriction that was later extended through legislative action. The State Department and USAID have collectively provided hundreds of millions of dollars to UNRWA in prior fiscal years; USAID disbursed approximately $344 million to UNRWA in fiscal year 2021 alone, according to USASpending.gov records. The Trump administration separately announced a full suspension of U.S. contributions to UNRWA in early 2025 via executive action.
UNRWA has previously acknowledged that a smaller number of its staff — initially reported at approximately 12 individuals by the agency itself — were under investigation for alleged involvement in the October 7 attack, and stated it terminated those employees pending review. The agency has disputed broader characterizations of systemic complicity. The gap between UNRWA's internal figure and the 101 names referred by the USAID OIG has not been publicly reconciled by either party as of June 8, 2026.
What remains unknown is the full evidentiary record underlying each of the 101 referrals, the timeline for adjudication by USAID's debarring official, and whether the Department of Justice has received criminal referrals for any of the named individuals. The USAID OIG investigation report, if published in full, would be the primary public document capable of answering these questions. Congressional oversight committees — specifically the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — have jurisdiction to request that report and have not publicly announced whether they have done so.