The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fired 70 staff members working in Gaza after long-standing claims from Israeli authorities that the agency is a collaborator with the Hamas terrorist group.

"Today, the Commissioner-General ad interim of UNRWA, Christian Saunders, took the decision to terminate the employment of 70 UNRWA staff members in Gaza with immediate effect," UNRWA wrote in a Friday statement.

UNRWA insisted its decision was not an admission of guilt, but one taken "to mitigate safety and security risks for the refugees the Agency serves under its mandate and for UNRWA personnel and premises."

The agency claims it has "repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information and evidence to substantiate allegations against individual UNRWA staff members in Gaza but has received no response to date."

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"The dismissal of the staff is not part of a disciplinary process and does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them," the UNRWA statement read.

The firings follow a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investigation that referred more than 100 UNRWA staff members for suspension or dismissal.

USAID's investigation, the results of which the agency published June 5, assessed that a number of UNRWA's employees were deeply enmeshed in Hamas' civil society and military operations.

The investigation results included mention of "a deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion, a deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion" and "a teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas."

The investigation also found numerous school teachers and principals it claimed to have participated directly in Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

Israeli authorities have long charged UNRWA with being directly tied to Hamas.

"Since October 7, evidence of numerous incidents of Hamas exploiting UNRWA infrastructure and UNRWA employees being involved in terrorist activity has been exposed. Civilians in Gaza have even stated that UNRWA is Hamas," the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a January web post.

Additionally, the IDF claimed, citing intelligence findings, that "among the 12,521 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, at least 1,462 (12%) are members of Hamas or other designated terrorist organizations."

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Israel's Foreign Ministry pushed back on UNRWA's defense framing and claims that Israel had not supplied evidence of employee-Hamas collaboration.

"UNRWA's statement on the termination of 70 employees, while blaming the victim, Israel, and without even mentioning the word 'Hamas,' is a cynical cover-up," the ministry wrote in a statement shared on X.

"The responsibility to purge terrorism lies solely with the UN, yet Hamas membership remains simply acceptable within UNRWA's ranks. By harboring terrorists and letting its facilities serve as Hamas headquarters, UNRWA has become an arm of Hamas," the statement concluded.

UNRWA, for its part, denies being an active collaborator with Hamas, but insists working with the group is an operational necessity for distributing aid in Gaza.

"UNRWA, similar to other United Nations entities, does not have police or intelligence capacities and must rely on the cooperation and assistance of Member States, including the State of Israel as the Occupying Power, to protect its operations and neutrality amid high risks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," the agency wrote in its Friday statement.

In April, UNRWA's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) announced the results of an investigation into 19 employees accused of participating in Oct. 7. UNRWA terminated 12 of the employees in January. Of the remaining seven cases, UNRWA had dismissed one, citing a lack of evidence. The remaining six cases were still under investigation as of April, according to the agency.

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President Donald Trump's administration weighed levying terrorism-related sanctions against UNRWA in December.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also referred to UNRWA as "a subsidiary of Hamas."

Fox News Digital contacted UNRWA and a spokesperson for the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations but did not immediately receive a response.

Pope Leo XIV landed in Spain's Canary Islands, an epicenter for incoming migrants seeking entry into Europe, on Thursday just days after criticizing the country's immigration policies in a speech to Spain's Parliament.

Pope Leo will meet with 1,000 migrants on Friday to cap off his apostolic journey to Spain, the European country with the sixth largest Christian population on the continent.

Following his parliamentary speech Monday in which he took aim at Europe's immigration polices, Pope Leo landed Thursday on the island chain's Gran Canaria, according to Reuters.

On Thursday he met with migrants and leaders of international organizations that assist migrants, holding a moment of silence for migrants who died trying to reach Gran Canaria at Port of Arguineguin, a dock which made headlines in 2020 after over 1,000 migrants ended up stranded there during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Relief organizations came to call the Port of Arguineguin the "Dock of Shame" after the migrant crisis, a theme Pope Leo seemed to pick up on while speaking at the port Thursday.

"Dear migrants, before saying anything else to you, I want to bow before your dignity," the pope said. "You are not just numbers or files. You are people who have left behind families and homes. You have dreams that no one has the right to despise," Pope Leo said at the dock.

"We cannot grow accustomed to counting the dead," he added.

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He also called for "legal and safe pathways" for immigration worldwide.

Located less than 100 miles off the coast of West Africa, Gran Canaria has been the destination for thousands of Africans, many of whom have lost their lives attempting to traverse the volatile waters in small boats.

Over 3,000 people died trying to make the journey in 2025 alone, according to the non-governmental organization (NGO) Caminando Fronteras.

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The Canaries have seen a massive uptick in migrant entries since 2015. In 2024 the archipelago broke records with 46,843 irregular migrants compared to under 1,000 in 2015, according to Reuters.

Speaking to media at Pope Leo's event, a boat captain who assists charities and NGOs in ferrying migrants said he had personally helped save over 20,000 migrants in the last 18 years, Reuters reported.

"It's a number that makes me sick and that you cannot forget," the captain, Tito Villarmea, told Reuters. "I wish we ​didn't have to save anyone," he continued.

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Under Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Spain's socialist government has liberalized the country's policies on migration, approving a plan in April to grant 500,000 undocumented migrants legal status.

Spain's conservative lawmakers, meanwhile, fired back after Pope Leo's Monday speech to Parliament.

During his address to lawmakers, Pope Leo called migration a "tragic drama" and said discrimination against people based on "national, ethnic, religious or linguistic origin, or because of their economic or social status" was a violation of the "universal principle of the equal dignity of all human beings."

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But Santiago Abascal, who heads Spain's conservative Vox party, countered making a point that Vatican City has policies against illegal immigration as well.

"I like the Vatican state's migration policy. If someone enters illegally or with violence, they are fined, imprisoned and banned from entry. I would like a similar migration policy for Spain," Abascal told reporters Monday.

A Sudanese asylum seeker accused of blinding a Belfast man in one eye during a stabbing attack appeared in court Wednesday as anti-immigrant unrest spread across Northern Ireland.

Hadi Alodid, 30, was ordered to be held in jail after appearing by video in Belfast Magistrates' Court, where prosecutors accused him of blinding Stephen Ogilvie in his left eye during Monday's attack.

Alodid was charged with attempted murder, threatening to kill a radiographer and possessing a knife. He declined legal representation through an Arabic interpreter and did not enter a plea.

The attack, which occurred shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday in north Belfast and was captured in graphic video footage that quickly spread online, sparked outrage and fueled demonstrations that turned violent overnight. Police said Ogilvie, a man in his 40s, suffered serious injuries to his face, neck, back and eyes, and officers recovered what they believe was a kitchen knife from the scene.

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Video circulating online appeared to show members of the public confronting the attacker, including one person wielding a hurling stick. PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson praised the bystanders as "heroic," saying their intervention helped save the victim's life.

Police said Alodid entered Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland in 2023, applied for asylum and was granted a five-year permit to remain. Authorities initially identified him as Somali before later correcting his nationality to Sudanese.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said investigators had "no information to suggest that this was a terrorist-related incident" and were not seeking additional suspects.

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Masked men set fire to several homes they believed housed immigrants following the incident. They also burned trash bins, torched a Belfast bus and threw objects at police officers. Firefighters rescued multiple people from burning homes.

Police said they had declared a critical incident and increased their presence across Northern Ireland amid concerns about further unrest.

Anselme Shima, a Belfast resident originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said he witnessed the aftermath of the unrest near his home.

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"I've lived on my street for almost 10 years, I have a good relationship with my neighbors, but last night was a horrific one," he told Reuters. "We don't know what to do. I'm scared. Seeing this, I'm wondering if I'm next."

First Minister Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Fein described the unrest as "thuggery."

"Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice," she said.

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Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly of the Democratic Unionist Party said that "taking frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the stabbing attack "sickening" and condemned violence targeting people because of their background.

"The scenes in Belfast last night were shocking and completely unacceptable," Starmer wrote on X. "There is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere. It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it."

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The unrest was amplified online by anti-immigration activists, including Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson.

Some politicians said the stabbing should prompt a review of the open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, a highly sensitive issue because free movement across the border is a central pillar of the peace process that largely ended decades of violence known as "The Troubles." The conflict involving Irish republican and British loyalist militants, as well as U.K. security forces, left nearly 3,600 people dead before the 1998 peace accord.

Much of Tuesday's unrest took place in working-class areas where former paramilitary groups continue to wield influence.

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The case comes amid ongoing debate in Britain over another fatal stabbing that drew national attention in Southampton, England, last year.

Henry Nowak, who was White, was killed by Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh man who falsely claimed to police that he had been the victim of a racist assault by Nowak. Officers initially treated the wounded Nowak as a suspect before recognizing his injuries and attempting to save his life.

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Digwa was convicted of murder and sentenced last week to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years. The case has fueled debate about policing and race, and a protest following the killing turned violent, with some participants attacking officers with chairs and rocks. Several people were later charged with violent disorder.

Fox News Digital's Efrat Lachter and The Associated Press contributed to this report.