Former UNRWA chief reportedly told Hamas 'we are one and no one can separate us' in clandestine 2017 meeting

The former commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Pierre Krähenbühl reportedly told Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists (PIJ), “We are one” and “no one can separate us,” during a 2017 clandestine meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, according to a UN Watch report.

Krähenbühl currently serves as the director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“Your cooperation with us in security matters and your commitment to not closing UNRWA institutions, facilities, schools, or offices also completes this partnership,” the former UNRWA head told senior officials of the terrorist group.

“If we can achieve this, it means we are united, and no one can separate us,” Krähenbühl added.

Krähenbühl and UNRWA’s Lebanon chief, Hakam Shahwan, represented the UN aid agency at the meeting. They met with the senior Hamas leader Ali Baraka, PIJ leader Abu Imad Al-Rifai, Salah Al-Youssef from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The secret meeting also included representatives from other terrorist organizations. such as the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the PFLP-Central Command and Fatah al-Intifada, also known as the Palestinian National Liberation Movement.

Baraka, who was responsible for maintaining Hamas’ external ties with the Syrian and Iranian regimes, was sanctioned by the United States for his involvement in terrorism against Israeli civilians, including the Oct. 7 terror last year.

Furthermore, the PIJ terrorist al-Rifai, who attended the meeting with UNRWA in 2017, previously boasted that American and British soldiers in Baghdad were being targetted by suicide bombers.

Krähenbühl was reportedly aware of potential negative repercussions if UNRWA’s ties to terrorist groups like Hamas were exposed to the public. The former UNRWA head insisted on keeping the meeting secret in order to maintain the UN agency’s “credibility,” which could potentially “lead to a loss between donor countries and UNRWA, which might result in reduced or even halted funding,” according to reports. While keeping a low profile, Krähenbühl nevertheless stressed a “spirit of partnership” with the terrorists attending the meeting.

In January 2024, the Biden administration and several other governments temporarily suspended financial aid to UNRWA after the Jewish state presented incriminating evidence showing that UNRWA employees had participated in the Oct. 7 massacre and kidnapping of Israeli civilians.

In February, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed the names of 12 UNRWA employees who actively participated in the attack on southern Israeli border communities. Gallant also told journalists that Israel had a list of an additional 30 UNRWA workers who had indirectly assisted Hamas in perpetrating the attacks.

Israeli intelligence has estimates that at least 12% of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza have been involved with Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

Earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted UNRWA for its close ties to Hamas.

“I think it’s time that the international community and the UN itself understands that UNRWA’s mission has to end,” Netanyahu stated during a meeting with UN officials.

“UNRWA is totally infiltrated with Hamas, the premier argued. “It has been in the service of Hamas and its schools, and in many other things,” Netanyahu added.

The Israeli leader urged the international community to replace UNRWA with an alternative aid agency.

In April, a controversial panel report whitewashed UNRWA’s ties to Hamas and terrorism, claiming that Israel had failed to provide sufficient evidence. The report eventually led to a resumption of financial aid to UNRWA from the United States and other leading donor nations.