The UN is urging major donors not to cut back on aid to the Palestinians
The UN agency that provides aid to the Palestinians has been a crucial lifeline in the Gaza Strip for generations – and it was a point of contention with Israel long before some of the agency's employees were accused of involvement in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7.
The accusation, made by Israel, is a serious blow to the reputation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, commonly known as UNRWA. The claim was followed up by both the United Nations, which said Friday it had fired the accused workers and was investigating, and the United States, which said it had suspended some funding for the agency.
Here's a closer look at the organization and its work.
What does UNRWA do?
UNRWA provides a range of social services for people registered as Palestinian refugees in the wars surrounding the formation of Israel, and for their descendants in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The agency looms large in Gaza, where most of the population of more than two million people lives registered as a refugee. Gaza has long been under an Israeli blockade and Hamas – considered a terrorist group by much of the world – exercises control. No country's government takes even partial responsibility for governing the territory, and the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited powers in the West Bank, was effectively driven out of Gaza in 2007 during a power struggle with Hamas.
UNRWA builds and operates schools, medical clinics, shelters and playgrounds throughout the territory. It provides food, housing assistance and emergency loans and even oversees some of the waste collection. It is one of the largest employers in Gaza, with 13,000 employees, most of them Palestinians, a rarity in an enclave where almost half of adults are unemployed.
“Essentially, we have been running a parallel government in Gaza for the past few decades,” Hector Sharp, head of the agency's legal office, said in an interview in October.
What are the allegations against UNRWA?
It's not entirely clear.
UN and US officials referred to claims that some UNRWA staff may have been “involved in” the October 7 attacks, but did not elaborate on that involvement or say whether they were among the worst atrocities committed that day.
The State Department reported 12 employees charged and fired — UNRWA did not provide a number — but it is unclear what type of work they did or their level. It also remains to be seen whether investigations will yield more such allegations.
What is UNRWA's relationship with Israel?
Israel has long accused UNRWA of collaborating with Hamas, helping it indoctrinate Gazans with anti-Israel propaganda, and turning a blind eye to Hamas militants who fire rockets into Israel and operate an extensive tunnel network in the area .
Hamas oversees what little civilian public administration exists in Gaza, so people and agencies under its control inevitably interact with the organization, but the extent and nature of that cooperation has been the subject of many competing claims.
Israel also objects to labeling those born outside Israel as refugees.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone so far as to blame the organization for perpetuating rather than easing the plight of Palestinians, and has called on the United Nations to disband it.
Israeli officials have long claimed that Arab countries “want the Palestinian refugee problem to remain unresolved so that there is a constant reminder of the Palestinian tragedy,” said Ahron Bregman, a senior lecturer at King's College London who specializes in the Arab-Israeli conflict. . “UNRWA, as Israelis see it, is a tool to keep the Palestinian refugee problem unresolved.”
But some experts say that despite hostile public comments, Israel, which occupied Gaza from 1967 to 2005, needed the agency to provide stability there. “Behind the scenes, Israel has often favored UNRWA's work,” said Anne Irfan, an expert on Palestinian refugee rights at University College London.
Why was UNRWA founded?
UNRWA was founded in 1949 to assist approximately 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from Israel during the wars surrounding Israel's creation and were banned by Israel from returning.
Many settled in refugee camps that the organization helped establish and which have since become built-up, often impoverished urban areas.
The Palestinians are the only refugee group whose support does not fall under the global mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary donations from UN member states, with the United States and European Union countries providing the majority of the funding.
The organization, which has said it was already short of resources before the start of the current war, has called for a major cash injection to meet the additional needs.
What has been UNRWA's role during this war?
Since Israel began its bombing campaign and ground invasion in retaliation for the October 7 attack, UNRWA has taken primary responsibility for protecting Gazans displaced from their homes – now nearly 90 percent of the population.
The organization has converted its schools, clinics and offices into emergency shelters that have become severely overcrowded, and has also set up sprawling tent camps. It has also been heavily involved in the distribution of much-needed food, water and medicine supplies.
She also shared the suffering of people in Gaza, where more than 25,000 people have been killed in the war, according to the Health Ministry. The agency said 152 of its employees were among the dead and 141 of its facilities were damaged or destroyed.
Megan Specia And Ben Hubbard reporting contributed.