Introduction

Founded in 1985, Al Awda Health and Community Association (AWDA; formerlyUnion of Health Work Committees – UHWC) is a “Palestinian, non-governmental, health, grass-rooted, non-profit organization” that claims to “provide comprehensive health services…to all sectors of the Palestinian people…through its health centers and community programs.” AWDA uses demonizing rhetoric, including accusing Israel  of “Urbanicide,” “Genocide,” and “mass killing of civilians.” AWDA signed the 2005 Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS and helped organize the 2007 First Palestinian Conference for the Boycott of Israel (BDS).

AWDA is identified by Fatah as a PFLP “affiliate” and in a 1993 USAID-engaged audit report (by the Democratic Institutions Support Project) as “the PFLP’s health organization.” Citing PFLP connections, on June 9, 2015, Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon declared that “the group of people or institutions or association known as the ‘Union of Health Work Committees-Jerusalem [HWC]’…or any other name that this association will be known by, including all of its factions and any branch, center, committee or group of this association is an unauthorized association, as defined by the Defense Regulations” (p.6489). 

AWDA’s “sister organization” (as referred to by Viva Salud, one of its Belgian partners) in the West Bank and Jerusalem is Health Work Committees (HWC). HWC states that “among the outcomes of the post-Oslo situation, as a result of the geopolitical situation, the Health Work Committees formed separate administrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Each department has worked relatively independently to maintain a healthy political and developmental vision and action strategies that take the site’s privacy.” 

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

Founded by George Habash in 1967, the PFLP is a secular Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organization, originally supported by the former Soviet Union and China. The PFLP is a terrorist organization, designated as such by the EU, the US, Canada, and Israel. The PFLP is involved in suicide bombings, shootings, and assassinations, among other terrorist activities targeting civilians, and was the first Palestinian organization to hijack airplanes in the 1960s and 1970s. 

The group was responsible for the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rechavam Ze’evi in 2001, and its members joined with the Baader-Meinhof Gang (a West German radical group) to hijack an Air France Tel Aviv-bound flight in 1976, landing it in Entebbe, Uganda. PFLP members took credit for the house invasion and murder of the Fogel family in 2011 and was responsible for the massacre at a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood in 2014 where four worshipers and an Israeli Druze police officer were murdered. The terror organization also praised its “comrades” for their role in the murder of Israeli Border Police office Hadas Malka, and wounding of four other Israelis in a June 16, 2017 attack in Jerusalem. In August 2019, a PFLP terror cell carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year-old Rina Shnerb, and injuring her father and brother.

The PFLP has never recognized the State of Israel, and opposes all negotiations, instead calling for the “liberation” of all of “historical Palestine,” regularly by means of terror. 

The PFLP, a longtime ally of Hamas in Gaza, participated in the atrocities of October 7, 2023. On its website and Telegram, the PFLP proudly shared videos, images, and text celebrating the massacre and the attacks against “occupation army troops and the herds of their settlers” in southern Israel. Reportedly, the PFLP was also involved in illegally holding Israeli hostages brought back to Gaza. For more information, read NGO Monitor’s report “PFLP Involvement in the October 7 Atrocities.” 

In addition to AWDA, NGO Monitor has identified a broad network of Palestinian NGOs claiming to advance human rights or humanitarian interests that have links to the PFLP terror group.  These connections include current and former NGO board members, officials, and employees who served in the PFLP or spoken on its behalf at public events and taken part in PFLP forums.

Funding

AWDA’s terror affiliation is antithetical to human rights norms and principles. Due to its affiliation with the PFLP, the provision of funds to UHWC is in likely violation of international, EU, and domestic terror financing and material support laws. The organization is therefore an inappropriate partner for governments and individuals seeking to further human rights in the region.

• In 2022-2026, AWDA is receiving €245,000 from Belgium via Viva Salud.
• In 2024, AWDA received $275,330 from Spain for “Providing multisectoral protection services at individual, family and community level, for women and girls survivors or at risk of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Rafah and Khan Younis, south Gaza Strip.”
• In 2023, the UN-OCHA occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund granted AWDA $2.6 million for various projects in Gaza.
• In 2021-2022, AACID (Spain) provided AWDA (as UHWC) and Paz con Dignidad with €330,000 for the “Comprehensive protection services for Gazan boys and girls in the Al Nuseirat refugee camp, in accordance with IHL and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
• In 2020-2021, AECID (Spain) granted €300,000 to AWDA (as UHWC) for “improved access to comprehensive services for survivors of violence.”
• In 2020-2021, AWDA (as UHWC) and Spanish NGO Alianza por los Derechos, la Igualdad y la Solidaridad Internacional received €320,000 from AACID for “Strengthening of the projection system for women and girls survivors and at risk of gender and sexual violence in the Rafah Area, in the context of conflict and the Covid pandemic in Palestine.”
• In 2018-2021, AWDA (as UHWC) received $839,368 as part of a $17 million project with the NGO Development Center, funded by the World Bank through its International Development Association.
• In 2019-2020, the UN OCHA occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund granted AWDA (as UHWC) $2.3 million for various projects in Gaza.
• In 2019-2020, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia (Basque Autonomous Community) provided €80,000 to AWDA (as UHWC) and Paz con Dignidad for “Comprehensive Health Services for Women and Youth in Northern Gaza.”

AWDA Organizational Ties to PFLP

• AWDA (as UHWC) is identified by Fatah as an official PFLP “affiliate” and by a 1993 USAID-engaged audit as the “the PFLP’s health organization.” 
• As academic scholar Glenn E. Robinson, who also identifies UHWC as a “PFLP-affiliated health committee,” explains that “Many-probably most-doctors who joined the UHWC had political leanings similar to the leftist PFLP. As health committees tied to other political factions also existed, it was common for doctors and staff to work with that health group which reflected their politics. Both the providers and, to a lesser degree, the recipients of these medical services were aware of the larger political agenda. The ability to translate medical-and other social-services into a particular political vision was the key to the struggle within the Palestinian community for ideological hegemony” (emphasis added).
• HWC’s Youth Development Program, “A community, cultural, and social development program that provide services to Jerusalemite youth through ‘Nidal Center,’” was shut down by Israeli authorities from 2009 to 2012 because, in the words of the Jerusalem District Court, it served as “a place of action of the [PFLP] organization.” According to the Jerusalem District Court, “following the closure of the [Center], the PFLP began operating under the guise of the non-profit the Union of Health Work Committees – Jerusalem…on June 9, 2015 at the request of the Minister of Defense the non-profit was an unlawful organization…” 
• According to an article published by PFLP’s Al-Hadaf news outlet and written by Mona El-Farra, “a founding member of UHWC,” “the Popular Committees for Health Services” (the original name of UHWC) was “politically sponsored by the PFLP.”
  • In an interview in 2004, El-Farra explained that UHWC refused USAID funding because it came with the condition that they promise “not [to] give any help or any aid whatsoever for the families of the militiamen, or their relatives, or anyone related to ‘terrorist attacks’” because “we consider it resistance.”

Al-Awda Hospital

• AWDA runs the Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza.
• In December 2023, the Israeli army raided Al Awda Hospital and arrested 21 health workers, including the hospital’s director.
• In November 2023, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) claimed that three doctors were killed as a result of a strike that hit Al-Awda hospital in Gaza. According to MSF, two of the doctors, Mahmoud Abu Nujaila and Ahmad Al-Sahar, were employed by MSF; the third, Ziad Al-Tatari, was employed by AWDA. (For more information, read NGO Monitor’s report, “MSF in Gaza: Terror-linked Employee and Hospital.”)

Mahmoud Abu Nujaila

• Abu Nujaila, a doctor at Al-Awda Hospital, was the head of the PFLP’s health group, the Democratic Health Association. Mahmoud Abu Nujaila openly supported the PFLP and its violent actions, along with other terrorists who brutally killed Israelis.
• On October 17, 2021, Abu Nujaila shared a picture of a handwritten stylized text in a notebook that read, “October 17th, when the [gun] silencer cried in joy.” Abu Nujaila wrote, “It was the prettiest day, it was the PFLP’s response, and it was the decree of the people.” He added victory and heart emojis. On October 17, 2001, a PFLP cell directed by PFLP Secretary-General Ahmad Sa’adat assassinated Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi.

Abu Nujaila celebrated the PFLP’s assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi.

• Similarly, on October 17, 2019, Abu Nujaila wrote, “As we remember October 17th, we shall not forget those who surrendered the men who carried it out, and we shall not forgive. #The_security_coordination_is_betrayal.”
• On October 17, 2019, Abu Nujaila shared an official PFLP poster featuring a PFLP terrorist and the text, “Our bullets have grown in numbers and our rifles have not yet rusted. October 17th – the first assassination operation of a Zionist minister in the history of the Palestinian revolution.”

Abu Nujaila shared an official PFLP poster praising the PFLP’s assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi.

• On August 27, 2019, Abu Nujaila shared a poster featuring former PFLP Secretary-General Abu Ali Mustafa and the text “The moon of martyrs.” Abu Nujaila wrote, “We have returned to resist, not to negotiate.”

Abu Nujaila shared a poster of former PFLP Secretary-General Abu Ali Mustafa and the text “The moon of martyrs.” Abu Nujaila wrote, “We have returned to resist, not to negotiate.”

• On February 23, 2019, Abu Nujaila shared the PFLP’s logo and an official statement by the PFLP, calling for a “real national unity” and an “end to the division.”
• In December 2018, in celebration of its 51st anniversary of its establishment, the PFLP held a “free health day” in Gaza district’s southern area in cooperation with its official health group, the Democratic Health Association. According to the PFLP, at the time, Abu Nujaila was the head of the Democratic Health Association.
• On December 13, 2018, Abu Nujaila shared a poster featuring Saleh Barghouti and Ashraf Na’alwa, with the text “the legend.” Abu Nujaila wrote, “You two have glory in heaven. The [Palestinian] Authority of the military coordination has only shame and disgrace.”
  • Barghouti carried out a December 8, 2018 shooting attack, claimed by Hamas, wounding eight, including a pregnant woman whose injuries lead to the premature birth of her baby, who later died.
  • Na’alwa brutally murdered civilians Kim Levengrond Yehezkel and Ziv Hagbi in an October 7, 2018 shooting in the Barkan industrial zone. Levengrond was handcuffed by Na’alwa before he executed her at point blank range.

Abu Nujaila shared a poster and praised two terrorists.

• On July 29, 2018, Abu Nujaila shared an official PFLP eulogy poster featuring two of its terrorists, Ayman Al-Najjar and Muhannad Hamuda, and wrote, “What a heartache. May your spirits have glory.”
  • Al-Najjar and Hamuda died in an explosion when they were preparing to launch a rocket at Israeli territory.

Abu Nujaila shared an official PFLP eulogy poster and wrote, “What a heartache. May your spirits have glory.”

• On February 6, 2018, Abu Nujaila shared a poster featuring Saleh Barghouti with an automatic rifle and the text, “He shook Israel’s security and terrified it.”

Abu Nujaila praised the terrorist Saleh Barghouti.

Ahmad Al-Sahar 

• According to Ahmad Al-Sahar’s Facebook page, from April 2023 until his death, he was employed by MSF. He was also a medical officer in UNRWA until his death. 
• During his employment at MSF, Al-Sahar eulogized two Hamas terrorists:
  • On April 28, 2023, Al-Sahar shared a photo of a Hamas “field commander” Mohammed Attallah Al-Sahar, along with a picture of his father in military uniform, and wrote, “Yesterday it was his father and now it is him. May Allah have mercy on them and accept them [in heaven] as martyrs.”

Al-Sahar eulogizing two Hamas terrorists.

Ziad Al-Tatari

• Ziad Al-Tatari was employed as a doctor by AWDA Health and Community Association at the time of his death.
• On October 7, 2023, Al-Tatari wrote, “The army that cannot be defeated, is weaker than a spider web. Oh Allah be with us…” Al-Tatari was echoing a well-known quote from Hezbollah Head Hasan Nasrallah, “Israel is weaker than a spider web.”

Bakr Hussein Abu Safiya

As of August 2020, Abu Safiya held the role of consultant surgeon at UHWC’s Al-Awda hospital. According to the PFLP-linked NGO Abdel Shafi Community Health Association (ACHA), Bakr Hussein Abu Safiya is a member of the ACHA’s board of directors. 

• Abu Safiya appeared on the PFLP list for the scheduled May 2021 Palestinian Legislative Elections, which were postponed indefinitely. According to the PFLP, Abu Safiya is “a member of the PFLP’s central committee.” Following Israel’s August 2022 military operation against PIJ forces in Gaza, Abu Safiya took part in an official PFLP delegation to honor senior members of PIJ who were killed during the fighting.

Left: Abu Safiya (circled in red) in the mourning tent for senior members of PIJ, alongside other senior PFLP members. Right: The PFLP delegation, headed by PFLP Deputy Secretary-General Jamil Mizhar, visiting the PIJ mourning tent. (Source)

• In January 2022, Abu Safiya participated in a Democratic Sports Forum event to commemorate the anniversary of PFLP founder George Habash’s death. According to Al-Hadaf, the Democratic Sports Forum is the PFLP’s sports wing. PFLP flags and posters were present.

Abu Safiya (circled in red) at the PFLP’s event commemorating the anniversary of PFLP Founder George Habash’s death. (Source)

• Abu Safiya spoke at a January 2022 PFLP event commemorating the death of multiple Gazans in the so-called “Zeitoun Incident.” During his speech, Abu Safiya said, “the massacres carried out by the Zionist enemy against our people have not and will not break the people’s resolve and shall never divert it from continuing its resistance until it will achieve freedom, reclaim its national rights and establish its Palestinian state from the river to the sea.”

Abu Safiya speaking at the January 2022 PFLP event.

• On October 17, 2020, Abu Safiya posted on Facebook, “On this day, October 17, 19 years ago, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades carried out the promise of retaliation announced by the PFLP Secretary General Ahmed Sa’adat [i.e., assassinated Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze’evi] to ‘redraw a red line for the Zionist entity.’ All [military] factions must retaliate on assassinations of commanders in the same way of the [Popular] Front until a red line will be redrawn. May the martyrs have mercy and eternal life.”

Abu Safiya hailed the PFLP’s assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze’evi and called for similar attacks: “…Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades carried out the promise of retaliation…All factions must retaliate on assassinations of commanders in the same way of the [Popular] Front…”

• On December 11, 2018, Abu Safiya posted on Facebook, “On this day in 1967 the Popular Front announced its establishment…the Front emphasizes that it is a combative group until the return to historic Palestinian [meaning all of Israel’s territory] will be achieved. Long live the anniversary of the establishment. May the martyrs have glory and eternal life. May our brave prisoners have freedom. Revolution until liberation of all the land of Palestine.”

Selected AWDA Staff Members with Ties to PFLP

Numerous AWDA staff members, founders, board members, and senior and subordinate staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group. 

Dr. Rabah Muhanna: Referred to as one of AWDA’s “founders” and former “head.”

• According to the PFLP and the Palestinian NGO Al Mezan, Muhanna served as a member of the PFLP political bureau.
• In 2012, speaking on behalf of the PFLP at an event “in Gaza City marking the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Front on December 10,” Muhanna declared that the PFLP “will continue to adhere to liberating all of historic Palestine, from the river to the sea, and will never recognize Israel.” 
• According an August 2012 PFLP article, Muhanna spoke at a “Jerusalem Day rally in Gaza City” where affirmed that “Jerusalem is not going to be restored by absurd negotiations” and that “the most effective way to restore our rights, the city of Jerusalem and all of Palestine is constant struggle and resistance in all of its forms, popular, armed, cultural and economic.”
• On May 5, 2019, the PFLP issued a statement mourning Muhanna’s death and referring to him as a “warrior and a great national leader” and “one of the most prominent national leaders in the Gaza Strip.” During his funeral, Muhanna’s coffin was escorted by armed PFLP militants.
• Muhanna regularly participated in UHWC activities, such as accompanying foreign delegations and attending charity events.    
• In addition to AWDA, Muhanna “contributed to the establishment” of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) and Addameer – two other PFLP “affiliate[s]” NGOs.  
• In May 2019, the PFLP organized a memorial event for Muhanna. According to information posted by the PFLP, Muhanna “contributed to the establishment” of several PFLP-affiliated NGOs. The hall was decorated with PFLP paraphernalia.

UHWC mourning Muhanna’s death (May 5, 2019) (Source: UHWC Gaza, Facebook, May 5, 2019)

Muhanna speaking at a PFLP event. (Source: PFLP, “Popular Front mourns member of its political bureau…” May 5, 2019)

Muhanna’s coffin escorted by PFLP armed terrorists (May 14, 2019) (Source: on file with NGO Monitor.)

Dr. Mohammed Abdel Qader Abu Samr: A “founder”¹ and was a UHWC “member.”²

• Described by the PFLP as a “comrade fighter” in a 2016 statement mourning his death.

PFLP poster mourning Abu Samr death (Source: PFLP, “Popular Front in the Gaza Strip mourns comrade…” March 28, 2016)

UHWC mourns Abu Samr death (Source: UHWC Gaza, Facebook, March 17, 2016)

Abu Samr holding an automatic rifle next to a child (From “The martyr Mo-hammed Abdel Qader Abu Samr” video) (Source: Lina Zeater, YouTube. April 11, 2016)

Rafat Al-Majdalawi

• In September 2021, Majdalawi, AWDA Executive Director, attended a PFLP ceremony in celebration of Khalida Jarrar’s release from Israeli prison after serving a two-year sentence. In 2019, Jarrar was arrested, together with tens of other PFLP members, and convicted of membership in the terror group. The arrests took place following an August 2019 bombing in which a 17-year-old Israeli civilian, Rina Shnerb, was murdered.
• In May 2019, Al-Majdalawi shared an official poster by the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades (the PFLP’s military wing) eulogizing deceased PFLP Political Bureau Member Rabah Muhanna. The poster referred to Muhanna as “the great comrade patriotic commander.”
• In April 2019, Al-Majdalawi hailed PFLP senior member and former PFLP Central Committee Member Ali Al-Qatawi on the occasion of the latter’s death. Al-Majdalawi wrote, “The comrade, commander and teacher Abu Saleh [Al-Qatawi’s alias]. We will depart from you with tears and a promise.”
• In December 2021, Amad news outlet reported that Al-Majdalawi was elected to PNGO’s coordinating office. Multiple PNGO officials have ties to terrorist organizations, and at least five PNGO members have ties to EU-designated terror organizations, including through their employees and/or board members who are directly involved in activities and programs.

Magdi Yaghi

UHWC treasurer;³ “board member” in 2016-2019; and 2016 “deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors.” 

• The PFLP refers to Yaghi as a “member of the regional command” and a “comrade.” 
• In February 2019, Yaghi participated in a memorial service organized by the PFLP for Maher Yamani, a PFLP “founder” and a “member of the Central Committee and one of its most prominent military commanders.” Yamani “coordinated special operations…in particular the operation against an aircraft of the Israeli company El Al in July 1968 in Greece.” “Fighters” of the PFLP’s Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades and “civil society representatives” attended the event (see photo below). 
• In 2014, Yaghi participated in a PFLP organized field trip to several high schools in Gaza to commemorate the 47th anniversary of its founding. 
• In addition to AWDA, Yaghi is involved with the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), another PFLP “affiliate.” In 2013, he served as a UAWC board member. He also participated in a 2019 UAWC event.  

Yaghi at workshop for the launch of the UHWC strategic plan for 2019-2023 (Source: Magdi Yaghi, Facebook, March 20, 2019)

In February 2019, Yaghi participated in a PFLP memorial service for PFLP founder Maher Yamani (Source: PFLP, “Popular Front in the Gaza Strip holds memorial…” February 4, 2019)

Yaghi with senior PFLP members Abu Nidal Toman and Jamil Mizher. (Source: Magdi Yaghi, Facebook, December 7, 2013)

Yaghi marching with PFLP members carrying hatchets and Molotov cocktails (Source)

Mona El-Farra

According to Arab media outlets, Mona El-Farra is “a founding member of UHWC.” According to several Arabic-language sources, in 1999–2018, Mona El-Farra held a seat on the board of directors at Abdel Shafi Community Health Association (ACHA). El-Farra was also the board’s deputy chair in at least 2012–2016.  According to MECA, El-Farra is currently MECA’s Director of Gaza Projects.⁴ El-Farra uses social media to demonstrate her support in the PFLP.

• According to UPWC, on July 29, 2021, El-Farra attended an official UPWC bicycle riding event titled “Big Ride,” in which participants “demanded to stop aid to Israel and stop Israel’s Armament.” El-Farra has cooperated and supported UPWC several times in 2018-2021.
  • The Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC) is identified by Fatah as an official “affiliate” and by USAID as the “women’s organization” of the PFLP. On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared UPWC a “terror organization” because it is part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.” For more information on UPWC’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “The Union of Palestinian Women Committees Society’s Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”

El-Farra (circled red, left) participating in an official UPWC event with PFLP leader and UPWC senior official Samira Abd Al-Alim (circled red, right). (Source)

• El-Farra attended the August 2021 board of directors meeting of UHWC and has cooperated on multiple occasions with UHWC.
• On February 18, 2020, El-Farra wrote on Facebook, “Long live the resistance. Long live all the resistance’s women who were role models for our generation. The martyr hero Amina Dahbur and Leila Khaled are a source of pride for every Palestinian man and woman. Today is the anniversary of the hijacking of the El-Al plane that its hero was Leila Khaled and her comrades. Resistance is a right for an occupied people.”
  • On February 18, 1969, a PFLP group, including Amina Dahbur, attacked an El-Al airplane, killing the pilot Yeram Perez and wounding 6 others. Leila Khaled, a PFLP member, took part in several other airplane hijackings.
• On January 27, 2019, El-Farra shared an article marking the 11th anniversary of PFLP founder George Habash’s death and wrote, “…May your spirit rest in peace, the Doctor (Habash’s alias) of the revolution.”
• On December 23, 2018, El-Farra’s op-ed was published in the PFLP’s Al-Hadaf news outlet. El-Farra depicts her part in the “the Popular Committees for Health Services,” (the original name of UHWC), which was “politically sponsored by the PFLP.” El-Farra stated that, “Still, until now, I remember the events of this brave Intifada with much pride…although its peaceful nature and the protestors’ sufficing in [throwing] rocks, the occupation, as usual, confronted it with severe violence…it will remain a glorious and facing forward page in the history of our people’s struggle. I still take pride and honor that will shy away from this experience that is everlasting and full of stories of patriotic revolutionary action, in theory and in practice.”
• In March 2015, El-Farra “contributed and sponsored” the PFLP’s Volunteer Work Committees official event in honor of the 39th Land Day. During the event, Sabr Al-Za’anin, the coordinator of the PFLP’s Volunteer Work Committees in Beit Hanoun, promised, “the martyrs all the Palestinian people from across the land, to continue the Palestinian fight and the struggle until Palestine in its entirety will be liberated…”

Dr. Tayser Al Sultan: Executive Director in 2015.⁵ A March 2019 US Embassy document lists Al Sultan as a “director” of UHWC. Al Sultan attended UHWC’s 2019 general assembly.

• In 2015, Al Sultan attended a PFLP organized “graduation ceremony for the ‘Pioneers of Return’ camps in the Gaza Strip,” which featured armed PFLP activists performing military maneuvers. 

“Graduation ceremony for the ‘Pioneers of Return’ camps in the Gaza Strip” (Source: PFLP, Popular Front Organizes Graduation Ceremony…” August 30, 2015)

Tayser Al Sultan (far right) viewing the “Pioneers of Return” ceremony (Source: Shaker Jouda Facebook, August 30, 2015)

“Graduation ceremony for the ‘Pioneers of Return’ camps in the Gaza Strip” (Source: PFLP, “Popular Front Organizes Graduation Ceremony…” August 30, 2015)

Fares Nasser: Director of Administration and Human Resources.⁶

• Abu-Nasser, AWDA Director of Administration and Human Resources, has headed the PFLP’s sports’ group, the Democratic Sports Forum, from its establishment mid-2021 until at least October 2023). Abu Nasser was referred to by the PFLP as a “comrade,” and has participated and led multiple activities with the PFLP in 2018-2023.
• In 2023–2025, Abu-Nasser headed AWDA association’s Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat Gaza. In 2019–2022, Abu-Nasser was director of operations in what was then UHWC, and in 2013–2017 was its administrative director.
• In 2017, Nasser hosted an event at his house to commemorate the 50 Anniversary of the establishment of the PFLP. 

Nasser surrounded by UHWC medics (Source: Farres Nasser, Facebook, July 8, 2018)

Nasser’s Facebook post about the event he organized is his home celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the PFLP (Source: Fares Nasser, Facebook, December 3, 2017)

Nasser shared pictures of the event he hosted featuring the PFLP flag and portraits of Ahmad Sa’adat and Abu ali Mustafa, the current and former PFLP Secretary-General (Source: Fares Nasser, Facebook, December 5, 2017)

Suhail Al Tanani: 

Referred to as the “Direction of the Union’s Communication and Advocacy Department” in an October 2019 interview posted on UHWC’s website. He was previously, in 2017, referred to as a Community Centers coordinator.⁷

• According to the PFLP, Al Tanani also serves as a staff officer at the PFLP Al-Qader school. 
• The PFLP refers to Al Tanani as a “comrade.” 
• In January 2019, Al Tanani spoke at a PFLP-organized graduation ceremony at the Al-Qader school.
• Spoke at an August 2018 event opening the Al-Qader al-Jabhawi school that featured a delegation of PFLP leadership. Al Tanani stated that the school would “work hard as an integrated team in order to preserve the revolutionary intellectual identity and build an advanced generation capable of facing Current and future challenges.”

Suhail Al Tanani stands next to Suhair Khader, “a member of the Central Committee of the PFLP,” during the 2019 graduation ceremony at the Al-Qader school. They are standing in front of a PFLP flag (Source: PFLP, January 7, 2019)

Suhail Al Tanani during a 2018 UHWC workshop (Source: UHWC Gaza Union of Health Work Committees, Facebook, January 12, 2019)

Dr. Fadi Al Ajrami

In 2016-2018, Al Ajrami served on UHWC’s Board of Directors. He is also referred to as a member of the Board of Directors in a May 2015 UHWC article. 

• According to the PFLP, Al Ajrami is a “member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front.” 

Tariq Abu Al-Khair

Tariq Abu Al-Khair served on UHWC’s board of directors in 2014-2018 and served as its chair in 2014-2015 and 2017. Al-Khair held a seat on the board of directors of Abdel Shafi Community Health Association (ACHA) in 2018–2020. 

• On December 9, 2018 Al-Khair commented that “the PFLP is our pride and glory,” in reply to a Facebook user who wrote to him “you are the pride and glory of the PFLP.”
• In August 2018, Abu Al-Khair participated in PFLP community activities in the Gaza Strip and was referred to by the PFLP as a “comrade.”
• In 2014, Abu Al-Khair headed the Democratic Medical Association in Gaza Strip. According to the PFLP’s Al-Hadaf, the Democratic Medical Association is a union framework of the PFLP. In 2008, Abu Al-Khair was the deputy head of the Democratic Medical Association in northern Gaza Strip.
• In 2014, Al-Khair was named by the PFLP as a comrade and a “member of the sub-committee of the PFLP’s central committee and head of its cultural operations in the northern [Gaza] district.”
• As reported by the PFLP, in December 2013, Abu Al-Khair participated in the PFLP’s aid activities and was referred by the latter as a “comrade.”

Maher Al-Attar

Maher Al-Attar was a member of UHWC’s Board as of July 2019.⁸ He also held the position of Chair of Al-Dameer’s Board from 2021 until 2023 and Head of the PFLP’s DALJ as of February 2019.⁹  (”Several Al-Dameer employees and board members have apparent ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. For more information on Al-Dameer’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Al-Dameer’s Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”)

• According to the PFLP, on March 30, 2021, the PFLP registered its electoral list with the CEC for the PA’s elections, “The People’s Pulse.” The list, comprising 65 candidates, includes Al-Attar (#12) among other PFLP leaders. Al-Attar also participated in the PFLP’s official delegation in registering the list with the CEC.

Al-Attar (circled) participating in the PFLP’s delegation for registering the People’s Pulse list with the CEC. Also present are Jamil Mazhar (forefront left), Hani Khalil (right, next to Al-Attar), and Mariam Abu Daqqa (forefront center).

• On March 22, 2018, the DALJ published a statement by Al-Attar, in which he refers to himself as a “comrade in the PFLP.”
• In March 2018, Al-Attar attended the aforementioned Democratic Association of Lawyers and Jurists’ meetings with PFLP General Central Committee members Hani Khalil and Muhammed Makkawi, Head of PFLP’s Gaza Branch, and member of its Political Bureau Jamil Mazhar, and PFLP General Central Committee member and Head of its Khan Yunis District Nasrallah Jarghoun.
• On May 14, 2018, Al-Attar shared on Facebook a picture of the Dome of the Rock with a Palestinian flag and wrote, “…those who normalize and who are prostrated will not sever us, this is Palestine, here the Tatars of this time will be defeated and eliminated, the savage and artificial state will be eliminated and crushed, the entity state and all the backward normalizing regimes will be eliminated by the will and resistance of a people who love life, this is Palestine” (emphasis added).

Mariam Abu Dakka: 

In May 2019, attended the UHWC “extraordinary general assembly.” She also attended the 2018 UHWC general assembly. Abu Dakka’s formal position within the NGO is unclear.

• Abu Dakka has been described as “one of the first female military leaders” and a “Palestinian female figure in armed resistance.”
• According to a January 2019 Jerusalem Post article, Abu Dakka is a “senior PFLP official.” 
• In February 2019, Abu Dakka and Madgi Yaghi participated in a memorial service organized by the PFLP for Maher Yamani, a prominent PFLP commander (see Magdi Yaghi above). 

Abu Dakka wearing a PFLP t-shirt standing next to a PFLP armed terrorist (on file with NGO Monitor)

Abu Dakka attending UHWC’s 2019 “extraordi-nary general assembly” (Source: UHWC Gaza Union of Health Work Committees, Facebook, May 12, 2019)

Abu Daqqa posing next to Leila Khaled, a Palestinian terrorist who participated in armed hijackings of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. (Source: Mariam Abu Dakka, Facebook, December 19 2012)

Mohammed Abuzaid: Radiographer¹⁰

Numerous posts on Abuzaid’s Facebook page demonstrate his connection to the PFLP, and in particular to its armed branch.

Abuzaid wearing a military uniform at a PFLP event (Source: Mohammed Abuzaid, Facebook, December 21, 2013)

Abuzaid wearing a UHWC vest (Fadi al-Khatib, Facebook, screenshot taken on July 2, 2019 an on file with NGO Monitor.)

Abuzaid wearing a military uniform standing next to PFLP armed terrorists (Source: Mohammed Abuzaid, Face-book, December 12, 2017)

Abuzaid wearing a PFLP vest (Source: Mohammed Abuzaid, Facebook, May 2, 2018)

Ahmed M Alhawajra: UHWC paramedic field worker (on file with NGO Monitor).¹¹

Alhawajra’s Facebook posts (below) indicate his involvement with the PLFP terror group and its armed branch (on file with NGO Monitor). 

Photo of Alhawajra featuring destruction and the PFLP media office logo

Alhawajra wearing a UHWC vest during the violent demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border

Alhawajra wearing a combat vest with a PFLP logo

Fadi al-Khatib

According to his Facebook account, is a “specialist” at UHWC (on file with NGO Monitor).¹²

• Al-Khatib also states that he is a “member of the Student Office at the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” (on file with NGO Monitor). 
• Al-Khatib’s Facebook posts indicate his involvement with the PLFP terror group and its armed branch (on file with NGO Monitor).  

Al-Khatib wearing a military uniform at a PFLP event. Armed PFLP terrorists stand next to him. (Source: Fadi al-Khatib, Facebook, screenshot taken on July 2, 2019 and on file with NGO Monitor.)

Al-Khatib during a UHWC workshop funded by the Belgium government. Alhawajra (see above) is seen standing behind him (Source: Yousef Balousha, Facebook, November 22, 2018)

Al-Khatib holds a poster featuring PFLP terrorists. A child wearing military uniform is seen in the front holding an automatic rifle (Facebook, February 2, 2019)

UHWC’s 2019 General Assembly

On July 27, 2019, UHWC held its 2019 general assembly. Several senior PFLP members attended the event, including Jamil Mizher and Kayed al Ghoul, both members of the PFLP’s Political Bureau of the PFLP,  and Abu Nidal Toman , a “member of the Central Committee of the PFLP.”

PFLP Political Bureau Member Jamil Mizher at the UHWC 2019 General Assembly (Source: UHWC Gaza, Facebook, July 27, 2019)

Source: PFLP, “Graduation camp,” (See also video evidence from August 30, 2015 here)