UNRWA teacher alleges Hamas glorification, hatred of Jews in Gaza schools
A Palestinian teacher who worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) for 15 years alleged that staff at the agency’s schools in the Gaza Strip encouraged students to hate Jews and glorified Hamas’s violent struggle against Israel, according to an exclusive interview published by the New York Post on Monday.
The 40-year-old teacher said that after she confronted a colleague over material being taught to female students, a senior school official threatened to cut out her tongue.
“She told me, ‘We will make you wish you were dead, and if you don’t stop arguing, we will cut out your tongue,'” the teacher recounted through an interpreter.
According to the teacher, the threat was made when the senior official confronted her while holding a pair of scissors, several days after a heated argument between her and another teacher.
The geography teacher said she had begun working for UNRWA because she believed a school operating under UN auspices could protect children from Hamas’s culture of violence. However, she said the reality she encountered was entirely different.
“I was shocked to discover that the reality was very far from what I had imagined,” she said.
UNRWA teacher details alleged anti-Jewish indoctrination
In one incident, she claimed to have heard a sixth-grade history teacher blame Jews for Palestinian suffering and explain to students that Hamas had been established to correct historical injustices.
In another incident, she said, a teacher encouraged young female students to continue Hamas’s struggle against Jews and later boasted to colleagues about the views she was instilling in her students.
“I was deeply shocked by the ideas they were passing on to these children,” she said.
The teacher claimed that her confrontation with the colleague led to threats against her and ultimately caused her to stop voicing her objections.
She said she was afraid to approach the school administration because she did not know which officials had connections to Hamas. She also feared her family members could be harmed.
According to her account, the incidents occurred at a UNRWA school in Gaza City that has since closed because of the war and been converted into a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
Gaza school radicalization could fuel future violence, teacher warns
Despite her fears, the teacher has now decided to speak publicly and warn of what she believes is a danger to the next generation of children in Gaza.
She warned that radicalization within the education system could lead to further acts of violence similar to the October 7 attacks.
According to the teacher, the danger has grown because of the war and the suffering experienced by children in the Gaza Strip.
“The danger is more serious than ever now because the children are truly suffering,” she said, referring to Israeli strikes.
“As a teacher, it is my duty to present an accurate picture and call on the world to save our children from these ideas,” she added.
“My most important message is that we need to pay attention to who is teaching our children.”
The New York Post did not publish the teacher’s name out of concern for her safety.
Her testimony adds to the ongoing controversy surrounding UNRWA’s operations, which have faced accusations of allowing antisemitic content and the glorification of terrorism within its education system.
Criticism intensified following the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were murdered in Israel.
UNRWA faces scrutiny over employees’ alleged role in October 7
A subsequent UN investigation found evidence indicating the possible involvement of nine UNRWA employees in the attack, and the agency announced their dismissal.
According to the New York Post report, a US government report published in January 2026 also identified problems in Palestinian Authority textbooks used in UNRWA schools, including material inconsistent with UN principles of neutrality and nonviolence.
UNRWA did not respond to the New York Post’s request for comment regarding the teacher’s testimony.
