The United Nations seeks, ostensibly, to keep the peace by serving as an arbiter between nations that otherwise might resort to violence to settle their differences.

It would seem, then, that we could count on the UN to be a neutral intermediary when it comes to terrorism. But troubling evidence has emerged that there’s an anti-Israel current within the UN that threatens to undermine its ability to be a force for peace in the Middle East. In fact, one of the UN’s agencies — an agency created to help refugees with humanitarian aid — has been infiltrated by pro-Hamas staffers.

Since 1952, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency has sought to assist Palestinian refugees and “offer services to certain other persons who require humanitarian assistance, on an emergency basis as and when required, in UNRWA fields of operations,” according to the UNRWA website.

But this week, the UN admitted that some employees in the agency may have been involved in the barbaric October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, which resulted in the slaughter of more than 1,200 people and the abduction of some 240 others.

“After Israel initially told other governments and the U.N. that twelve UNRWA staffers had taken part in October 7,” reports National Review, “several of those countries, including the U.S., suspended their funding for the agency, and the U.N. kicked off two internal investigations. Subsequent findings from Israeli intelligence reportedly hold that about 1,200 employees of the organization in Gaza are tied to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”

The UN only made a move when it was pressured to do so, but it won’t release the details regarding how UNRWA staff were involved in the attack. Of course, the UN wants to keep all of this out of the spotlight because sharing the report would undermine its credibility as a peacekeeping organization.

Despite the UN’s stonewalling, we have evidence of one of UNRWA’s relief workers, Faisal Ali Mualam Naami, carrying the body of an Israeli soldier into a white SUV and driving away. Making matters worse, UNRWA spent months denying reports of Hamas infiltrators within its agency only to withhold key information when the deadly truth became apparent.

During that time, the head of UNRWA accused Israel of trying to undermine the agency’s humanitarian mission. Responding to the claims of Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, Israel asserts that UNRWA indoctrinates Palestinian children in its schools with anti-Israel propaganda and uses schools for terrorist activities.

As The Washington Free Beacon notes: “It marks an abrupt about-face for the contested humanitarian group, which has long faced accusations that its employees double as Hamas agents and divert aid to the terror group. Israel alleges that at least 12 UNRWA employees directly participated in the Oct. 7 attack and that around 10 percent of its workforce is affiliated with the terror group, including around 450 employees who serve as Hamas foot soldiers.”

A refugee program should provide humanitarian assistance to the victims of a conflict while staying out of the fight. And there’s no doubt that UNRWA has provided relief to refugees over the years in the form of food, clothing, and medicine, as it should. But the program keeps expanding as the number of eligible refugees explodes. One wonders if the program’s growth has made it more easily infiltrated by pro-Hamas factions.

An agency that receives more than $300 million annually from the U.S. State Department should be transparent about the actions of its workers. Fortunately, Congress has paused funding to UNRWA until at least 2025. Notably, President Donald Trump terminated funding of UNRWA in 2018, calling the organization “irredeemably flawed.”

UNRWA’s refusal to release the details of its inquiry into UNRWA’s connection to the October 7 attack is shameful, and it raises more questions about those who might be diverting funds for other purposes or directly partaking in terrorist activities.

As the New York Post reports, UNRWA employees “teach millions of Palestinians to internalize a false narrative that they will one day push the Jews into the Mediterranean and reclaim their land. Multiple investigations of UNRWA schools and their staff have found widespread dissemination of antisemitism, support for terrorism and even praise of Hitler.”

Pausing funding of UNRWA until next year isn’t enough. The UN’s unwillingness to share its findings with the public is a clear signal that the agency will not change its vetting process or keep its employees from engaging in anti-Israel activities.

No matter who wins the White House this November, let’s hope UNRWA is permanently defunded as part of a broader effort to bring peace to the Middle East.