According to media reports, Hamas has agreed to appoint Amjad Al-Shawa – “a pro-Hamas” figure and a key NGO official in the sphere of  international aid in Gaza – as the head of a new technocratic committee that will administer civil affairs in Gaza as part of the US-brokered ceasefire.  

Amjad Al-Shawa serves as Director General in Gaza of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) – an umbrella organization of over 140 Palestinian NGOs. – PNGO sits on the Advisory Board of the UN’s Humanitarian Pooled Fund (HPF) for the West Bank and Gaza, designated for emergencies and unforeseen needs. Together with another NGO network representing international NGOs – the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) – PNGO helps determine the allocation of funds and assess the “technical soundness and quality of project proposals.” In his role at PNGO, Amjad Al-Shawa regularly meets with representatives of UN frameworks, including UNICEF, UNDP, UNOCHA, and World Food Program (see section on PNGO below).

In addition, Al-Shawa serves as Deputy Commissioner General of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR). Parallel to his nomination, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands have reportedly launched investigations into their funding of ICHR, concerned that it may have been diverted to Hamas.1 Indeed, NGO Monitor research has identified ties between ICHR and Palestinian terrorist organizations, including Hamas.

Therefore, the appointment of Al-Shawa should be viewed through the lens of Hamas’s efforts to maintain control of the territory, and utilize international aid to reestablish and reconstitute itself.

ICHR Links to Terror

ICHR has organized many workshops with Gaza’s police force (see picture below), a body of the Hamas Ministry of Interior and National Security, which itself operates under the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas’ military wing).

ICHR staff members meeting with the head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in 2018

  • In 2017, ICHR Director (and simultaneously serving as Al-Mezan director) Issam Younis participated in an event alongside Hamas’ Yahya Sinwar, as well as PIJ’s Khaled Al-Batsh and PFLP’s Kayed al-Ghoul.  

ICHR director Issam Younis (until 2021) addressing a panel with Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar in 2017

PNGO

  • In October 2023,  in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas invasion and massacre, PNGO published a statement demanding “National unity to combat the challenges and to supply international protection to the Palestinian people.” According to the statement, “We in PNGO salute this honorable image that our people are sketching” (translated from the original Arabic by NGO Monitor; emphasis added).
  • PNGO, which condemned the British government for designating Hamas as a terrorist organization in 2021, has been spearheading multiple campaigns for years to undermine European anti-terrorism policies. 
  • PNGO officials have repeatedly rejected the EU’s anti-terrorism requirements regarding NGO funding, and reportedly “refused [in 2019] to sign an EU grant request that stipulates among its criteria that beneficiaries must refuse to transfer any EU aid given to terrorist groups or entities.” In a 2021 publication, PNGO declared it “will continue to work with all parties… to develop or change the European Union’s position on the [anti-terror] conditions, on the ground of dialogue and serious work in Palestine and European capitals” (emphasis added).
  • In June 2017, PNGO condemned Norway for pulling funding from a youth center named after Dalal Mughrabi, a terrorist who in 1978 murdered 37 civilians, including 12 children. PNGO referred to Mughrabi as a “Palestinian Woman Freedom Fighter,” stating that “PNGO believes this is another form of foreign domination and oppression calling Palestinian resistance a terrorist resistance against Israeli occupation…PNGO stands strong against conditional funding, especially when it threatens Palestinian right to resist foreign domination, exploitation, oppression and occupation” and that “there is a difference between freedom fighters and terrorists” (emphasis added). 
  • PNGO members include a number of designated PFLP-linked NGOs, including Al-Haq, Addameer, Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), and Bisan Center for Research and Development.
  • In October 2019, Walid Hanatsheh – a member of PNGO’s board of directors and the Financial and Administrative director for Health Work Committees, an Israeli-designated PFLP-linked NGO – was arrested for participating in a terrorist attack in which Rina Shnerb, a 17-year old was murdered.  According to the indictment against him, Hanatsheh bankrolled the bombing. Following his arrest, the PFLP labeled Hanatsheh a “leader in the Popular Front.”
  • In October 2019, Walid Hanatsheh – a member of PNGO’s board of directors and the Financial and Administrative director for Health Work Committees, an Israeli-designated PFLP-linked NGO – was arrested for participating in a terrorist attack in which Rina Shnerb, a 17-year old was murdered.  According to the indictment against him, Hanatsheh bankrolled the bombing. Following his arrest, the PFLP labeled Hanatsheh a “leader in the Popular Front.”

Amjad Al-Shawa’s Cooperation with the UN

  • In his position as PNGO director, Amjad Al-Shawa regularly meets with representatives of UN Frameworks, including UNICEF, UNDP, UNOCHA, and World Food Program.

“My meeting at the network’s headquarters in Deir al-Balah with James Eldar, the spokesperson for UNICEF worldwide, and Hamish Young, the UNICEF Director in the Gaza Strip. The meeting addressed the network’s rejection of the statement by the Executive Director of UNICEF, as well as ways to enhance the important services provided by UNICEF in various areas of the Gaza Strip.”

“My meeting today at the network’s headquarters in Deir al-Balah with the Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) in the occupied Palestinian territories, Antoine Bernard, and the program manager in the Gaza Strip, Willy. The meeting discussed the developments regarding the cessation of aggression, the return of displaced persons, and the speeding up of service delivery in Gaza and the north, including the need to reopen bakeries, strengthen community kitchens, and facilitate the entry of aid into various areas.”