What is UNRWA?
Often described as the main humanitarian and social security provider for the Palestinians, UNRWA was established in 1949 and went into operation in 1950 to serve some 750,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes during the foundation of the state of Israel.
UNRWA, which is funded by a combination of U.N member states and the U.N. itself, now provides humanitarian aid, education and health services to 5.9 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants, who are also considered refugees under the agency’s charter. Some 2.4 million of these people are in Jordan, 1.6 million in Gaza, 900,000 are in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and a further 1 million are spread across Syria and Lebanon.
While the U.N. General Assembly controls UNRWA, annually extending its mandate to operate, the body only functions with the approval of local authorities. According to UNRWA itself, it has more than 17,000 employees, most of them Palestinian refugees — in territories impacted by the ban, where 2.4 million people are recognized as refugees — plus a small number of international staff.
Why is Israel banning it?
Lawmakers on the political right in Israel and the U.S. have long argued that the education material taught in UNRWA schools is antisemitic and incites violence against Israel. They also say that UNRWA has helped to perpetuate the refugee status of Palestinians and used them as a political tool against Israel rather than helping them integrate into their environments.
More recently, they have claimed that UNRWA has failed to prevent Hamas from using its facilities in Gaza, infiltrating its organization and misappropriating aid supplies.
Those arguments gathered support in Israel after the Israel Defense Forces said it had found Hamas-built tunnels under UNRWA schools and weapons in UNRWA faculties.
When Hamas led the Oct. 7 2023, terrorist attack on Israel in which Israeli officials say more than 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, some of those casualties and hostages were taken by members of UNRWA staff, according to Israel.
How have UNRWA and other UN bodies responded?
In its own defense, UNRWA has said that its educational material is designed to highlight tolerance and democracy and has denied any connection to terrorist activities. The body says that its staff must remain neutral and that any staff who are not are fired. It says that less than 1% of staff have been found guilty of such violations.
Last August, an independent investigation regarding the Oct. 7 2023, attack commissioned by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres examined 19 staff members and found that in nine cases, “the evidence obtained by [the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services] indicated that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the armed attacks.”
Abed Rahim Khatib / DPA via Getty Images
Lazzarini told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that the Israeli Foreign Ministry had orchestrated a campaign against UNRWA “motivated by the desire to strip Palestinians of their refugee status.”
What steps is Israel taking to ban UNRWA?
As dictated by a motion approved in October by its parliament, Israel is canceling the 50-year-old agreement with the U.N. under which it allows UNRWA to operate in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
While services in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon will not be impacted, that means Israel will no longer communicate with UNRWA staff, issue visas for its international workers or recognize existing visas — meaning many foreign staff will have to leave the occupied Palestinian territories.
Initially, the ban will be felt most in east Jerusalem, where UNRWA has been ordered to vacate its premises, while some of its operations in the West Bank will likely be wound down more gradually.
What does UNRWA say this means for aid in Gaza?
It remains unclear what the impact will be on aid in Gaza. U.N. figures suggest that Gaza is acutely in need of aid given that Israel’s military offensive — which local health authorities say killed 47,000 people — left around 90% of Gaza’s population, or 1.9 million people, displaced from their homes.
Around 60% of Gaza’s broader infrastructure has also been destroyed, the U.N. says.
UNRWA’s local permits are issued through local Gaza authorities and with the Israeli army planning to withdraw from many areas of the enclave, the U.N. body will no longer need to coordinate its movements with Israel.
According to Lazzarini, UNRWA employs 13,000 staff members and has 300 facilities in the enclave. While it’s expected that services will continue, the logistical viability of dealing with an Israeli military that controls Gaza’s land borders but no longer recognizes UNRWA may be placed in jeopardy.
Lazzarini told the Security Council on Tuesday that “since October 2023, we have delivered two-thirds of all food assistance [in Gaza], provided shelter to over a million displaced persons, and vaccinated a quarter of a million children against polio.”
What do Israel and the U.S. say?
Israeli officials say that UNRWA represents a fraction of the aid in Gaza and that it has exaggerated its role. They add that the weekly entry of 4,200 trucks of humanitarian assistance into Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement will not be impacted.
The Israeli military’s Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the [Palestinian] Territories (COGAT) says that, including UNRWA, there are 11 U.N. agencies and 17 nonprofits involved in aid efforts in Gaza, while the office of Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel said that 13.5% of aid there comes from UNRWA.
The Biden administration halted funding to UNRWA in 2024 and President Donald Trump has since supported Israel’s ban on the body. Dorothy Shea, a U.S. envoy to the U.N., told the Security Council on Tuesday that “UNRWA exaggerating the effects of the laws and suggesting that they will force the entire humanitarian response to halt is irresponsible and dangerous.”
“What is needed is a nuanced discussion about how we can ensure that there is no interruption in the delivery of humanitarian aid and essential services,” she added.
