EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) urged the head of the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to fire the leader of its Palestinian aid agency amid revelations employees took part in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, announced in late January the firing of 12 workers who purportedly participated in various aspects of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. Since then, about half of its donor countries have paused their funding of the agency.

“Let me be clear, all UNRWA staff who have supported, made statements in support of, or conducted and/or participated in violent acts should be suspended immediately, without pay, until a full and transparent international investigation has concluded,” Rubio wrote in a letter to Guterres dated on Friday, obtained by the Washington Examiner. “While Lazzarini has terminated a few employees during his tenure, he only did so as a result of international pressure.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) co-signed Rubio’s letter.

UNRWA has long faced allegations of having ties with Hamas, the militant group that carried out the attack, though the allegations about the UNRWA employees’ participation on Oct. 7 has led roughly half of its 2022 donors to suspend future contributions despite the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

“UNRWA has proven time and time again they are not a responsible agency that cares for the needs of the most vulnerable,” the Florida senator said. “Rather, it is a political tool used by Hamas to continue enriching its coffers. Millions of people around the world depend on the lifesaving humanitarian assistance provided by the UN. The UN member states share an interest in ensuring such assistance is free of corruption, waste, and abuse.”

The decision of the United States to stop funding UNRWA temporarily comes at a desperate time for Palestinians in Gaza who are trying to survive in an evolving battlefield. The U.N. said on Friday that roughly 75% of Gaza’s population had been displaced, and the Hamas-backed Gaza Health Ministry has reported more than 25,000 deaths, though it does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Lazzarini said this week that if the countries don’t restart their funding, UNRWA will “most likely be forced to shut down our operations by the end of February, not only in Gaza, but also across the region,” referencing the agency’s work in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank, in addition to the Gaza Strip.

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This was not America’s first time suspending aid to UNRWA: The Trump administration paused aid to the U.N. agency in 2018, though the Biden administration ultimately decided to restart it in April 2021. Biden officials have indicated they anticipate UNRWA continuing its mission in the future.

“No one else can play the role that UNRWA’s been playing, certainly not in the near term. No one has the reach, the capacity, the structure to do what UNRWA’s been doing. And from our perspective, it’s important, more than important, imperative, that that role continues,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week.

Read the full letter below: