What does UNRWA do and why is it seen as a lifeline for Palestinians?

THE ISRAELI PARLIAMENT voted to ban the United Nations’ main aid agency for Palestinians from operating in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem on 28 October.

Because of Israel’s occupation and control of all Palestinian territories – Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem – the new laws amount to an effective ban on the agency’s operations across Palestine as a whole.

There has been widespread condemnation of the move, even from some of Israel’s closest allies. 

“If implemented, the laws adopted today by the Knesset of Israel would likely prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with devastating consequences for Palestine refugees,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said following the parliamentary vote.

The agency is often described as an essential lifeline for Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip.

“There is no alternative to UNRWA,” Guterres said.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he has discussed what steps can be taken at the UN level with his counterparts in Norway, Slovenia and Spain, who jointly condemned the new laws. 

What is UNRWA and how is it funded?

UNRWA was founded in 1949 following the Nakba (Catastrophe), when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes during the Arab-Israeli war that led to the founding of the state of Israel. 

Many of those refugees make up the populations of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, living in refugee camps supported by the aid agency. 

Officially called the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA provides a wide range of services and employs around 30,000 people – mostly Palestinians. 

It also operates in neighbouring countries Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, where many Palestinian refugees and their descendents live.

UNRWA has two headquarter offices – one in Gaza and one in Amman, Jordan. 

The agency’s remit involves providing education, healthcare, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance. 

In the school year of 2021/2022, UNRWA educated 291,100 children in its 189 schools in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, the agency educates around 45,000 children in 96 schools. 

UNRWA also operates 43 primary healthcare facilities in the West Bank, treating more than 895,000 patients annually. 

It is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states but also receives some funding through the UN budget and from private donors. 

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The biggest donor by far has historically been the United States, followed by Germany and the European Union. 

Israel and UNRWA 

Israel has a long-held animosity towards UNRWA and UN institutions more generally, which has only intensified during the war in Gaza that began in October 2023. 

In January 2024, Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff members of taking part in the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, leading many Western countries to temporarily suspend funding for the organisation. 

The United States was chief among those states that suspended funding and it remains paused. In September 2024, a bill aimed at restoring the funds was introduced in the US Congress but it has not moved beyond the introduction phase.  

Ireland was among the countries that did not withdraw funding. 

In response to the 7 October accusations, UNRWA suspended 19 named workers (the number rose from 12 to 19 between January and April).

A series of UN probes found some “neutrality related issues” at the agency, and determined that nine employees “may have been involved” in the 7 October attack, but found no evidence for Israel’s wider allegations.

On 5 August this year, UNWRA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said he decided “that in the case of these remaining nine staff members, they cannot work for UNRWA”. 

At the time, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq did not go into details about that their involvement may have been. 

“For us, any participation in the attacks is a tremendous betrayal of the sort of work that we are supposed to be doing on behalf of the Palestinian people,” he said.

According to the BBC, an Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson said the report showed UNRWA had hit a “new low”.

Israel also alleged that 10% of UNRWA’s 13,000 workers in Gaza had connections to Hamas, a claim that remains unsubstantiated. The UN says Israel has not provided any evidence for its claims. 

In a year of war in the Gaza Strip, UNRWA says 233 of its workers have been killed in the territory. 

Only seven of its 27 health facilities in Gaza were operational as of 24 October. 

In total, 190 UNRWA installations have been damaged or destroyed in Gaza since October 2023.

Throughout the war, Israeli forces have repeatedly bombed UNRWA schools housing displaced people in Gaza and in some cases fired directly at UN aid vehicles. 

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