House Democrats leading a bill seeking to restore U.S. funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said the revelation on Monday that Hamas’ commander in Lebanon was an UNRWA teacher hasn’t changed their thinking on restoring funding.

A group of more than 60 House Democrats recently introduced a bill to restore funding to the scandal-plagued U.N. agency. Republicans have largely sought to permanently cut off funding and have vowed not to approve any further aid to the agency.

The UNRWA employee in question, Fatah Sharif, had, according to the agency, been placed on leave as the agency investigated his “political activities,” though the UNRWA head said he was unaware of Sharif’s seniority in Hamas. Hamas described Sharif as a school principal.

Sharif has been the subject of scrutiny from the nonprofit U.N. Watch, which described him as the leader of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon and highlighted his Hamas ties months ago. Sharif was killed in an Israeli airstrike this week.

Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), one of the lead sponsors of the UNRWA funding bill in the House, said in a statement to Jewish Insider that Sharif was not reflective of UNRWA as a whole.

“The UN has completed an exhaustive investigation and UNRWA has taken additional steps towards complete accountability and reform,” Carson said. “These allegations against a former employee are concerning but are not reflective of the entire organization, and UNRWA has demonstrated its ability to address incidents swiftly and decisively.  We should not allow allegations against a few individuals to impact the hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Palestinians who rely on UNRWA’s operation to survive.”

He added that “even if the fighting ends today, the humanitarian damage will take a very long time to repair. UNRWA needs the support of people of good will and peace, in the US and among all UN members.”

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), another lead sponsor of the bill, likewise said UNRWA had responded appropriately to concerns about Shariff.

“UNRWA employs over 30,000 people across the region and has, for decades, served as a lifeline for Palestinians by providing food, shelter, clean water, health care, education, and livelihoods,” Schakowsky said in a statement to JI, describing the agency as the “backbone” of the response in Gaza.

“UNRWA and the United Nations took swift and decisive actions to address the concerns raised by the U.S. government when it paused funding in January, and immediately opened an investigation and suspended Fateh al-Sharif without pay when it received reports of his allegiances,” she continued. “Ending the vital and lifesaving work that UNRWA does as chief distributor of aid to Palestinians is untenable and would create an even more catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.” 

Carson further said it was “also concerning that the wife, son and daughter of the teacher targeted by the IDF were also killed, and join the growing number of civilian casualties. The innocent civilian casualties in this terrible war must end, and the man-made humanitarian crisis must be addressed.”

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), responding to a post about the revelations about Sharif from AIPAC on X, dismissed the scandal.

“Out of 14,000 staff? That’s your point?” Pocan said. “Wonder if anyone will check your contributors to see their politics. No violence against civilians is acceptable. Not by Hamas. Not by Hezbollah. Not by Netanyahu. Too bad you are so in bed with Bibi you can’t see kids dying.”

Meanwhile, critics of UNRWA on Capitol Hill pointed to the incident as further proof that the agency must be defunded personally, or undergo deep and comprehensive reforms

“Reports that a recently killed Hamas leader was also an employee of UNRWA are disturbing but not surprising,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) told Jewish Insider in a statement. “It’s just one more reason why not another dime of U.S. money should go towards funding this terrorist front group.”

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who led legislation to audit UNRWA curricula, said that Sharif was representative of broader issues in the organization.

“UNRWA continued to deny and downplay the ties of many of its staff to the Hamas terrorist organization, just like it for years denied the extensive pro-terror content taught in its schools,” Sherman said in a statement to JI. “The United States should not consider refunding this problematic organization unless it shows a real commitment to addressing and uprooting its practice of hiring staff with ties and sympathies to terror groups. Fateh al-Sharif wasn’t a small-time militant who flew under the radar. He was Hamas’s top leader in Lebanon — and he was on UNRWA’s payroll for years.”

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) told JI the news was not “as surprising as it should be.”

“In the months following the October 7th attack, evidence piled up that UNRWA employees actively aided and abetted Hamas’s terrorism. I’ve long called for ending U.S. funding of UNRWA, and this should remove any reservations,” Scott, who is sponsoring legislation to cut off U.S. funding to UNRWA, said. “Not a single cent of American taxpayer dollars should ever go toward the beheading of innocent babies, raping of women, or murder of civilians.”

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) said in a statement to JI that Congress should pass legislation to ensure that UNRWA funding remains blocked.

“President Trump ended American taxpayer funding for UNRWA because it had long been an irredeemable organization with ties to Islamic terrorists just like Al-Sharif,” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) said. “It’s unconscionable that the Biden-Harris administration ever restarted the funding. We must pass legislation to permanently end U.S. funding for UNRWA and ensure it never sees another penny of American tax dollars.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) shared a report about the revelations, directing it to “the attention of any of my colleagues who still want to send American tax dollars to UNRWA.”

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who has led several hearings investigating UNRWA in a House subcommittee and is sponsoring legislation to cut off UNRWA funding, said in a statement, “this is who UNRWA is.” He emphasized that the agency has admitted it does not vet employees for Hamas ties.

“If you were surprised that Hamas’s top leader in Lebanon was also employed by UNRWA, stop kidding yourself,” Smith continued. “UNRWA’s deep ties to terrorism — including its employment of hundreds of staffers with terrorist affiliations — have been vastly documented… UNRWA is an incubator of hatred and a child-soldier factory whose textbooks, curricula, summer camps, and official media all exist to perpetuate conflict.”

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “U.S. tax dollars cannot continue to fund an organization linked to terrorism. UNRWA must go.” Pre-Oct. 7, Risch led legislation to withhold U.S. funding from UNRWA until it implemented reforms.

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) told JI that it was “no surprise that the United Nations, an organization that has a consistent record of hostility toward Israel, employed a Hamas leader.”

“The United States should withhold all funding from the UN until we can ensure that our tax dollars are not supporting terrorist proxies,” Tenney continued.

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), who has led legislation to cut off UNRWA funding, said that “the UN is subsidizing terrorism through UNRWA” and that “not one more penny of AMERICAN tax dollars should go to UNRWA.”

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said that the administration “must permanently cut off UNRWA funding, revoke its tax-exempt status, and provide oversight of every U.S. dollar the UN receives.”

Rep. MIke Lawler (R-NY) said on X, “This Hamas commander was an employee of UNRWA up until the moment he was killed— further proof of how broken this organization is. I’ll continue to champion Israel’s right to defend itself and stand up to the anti-Israel bias in our global institutions.”