Israel has a history of friction with the UN agency for Palestinians
Israel's accusations against 12 employees of the UN Aid for Palestinians, the main aid operation in Gaza, are the latest episode in a decades-long friction between Israel and the group.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, is one of the oldest UN agencies, founded in 1949 to care for Palestinian Arabs who had fled or been expelled from their homes during the wars surrounding the establishment of the State of Israel in the United Nations. late 1940s. When a separate UN agency was later established for refugees from other conflicts, UNRWA remained independent.
For Palestinians and their supporters, the group remains a vital lifeline for millions of descendants of these refugees, whose status and future have never been resolved in negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. It is one of the largest employers in Gaza, employing 13,000 people, mostly Palestinians.
Many of them live in underdeveloped urban neighborhoods – still known as refugee camps – in cities across the Middle East. In Gaza, they make up the majority of the population, and UNRWA plays a crucial role in providing education, social services and – during the current war – aid and shelter.
“Because their fate as refugees has never been resolved, they remain refugees,” said Chris Gunness, a former spokesman for UNRWA.
“These are some of the most vulnerable people in the Middle East,” he said. “They urgently need a UN agency to provide them with emergency and humanitarian services.”
For Israel, however, the group and its advocacy pose an obstacle to the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Many Palestinians want the refugees to return to their former homes in what is now Israel. Israel fears that such a migration would undermine Israel's Jewish character. Israelis say UNRWA's existence, separate from the broader UN refugee protection system, prevents them from taking root elsewhere in the Middle East.
“UNRWA became a central mechanism to permanently question the existence of a Jewish state,” says Einat Wilf, co-author of a book on UNRWA. The organization helps promote “a nationalism that focuses solely on the idea of return and revenge,” she added.
That broader dispute is the backdrop to regular clashes over what UNRWA schools teach their students and over UNRWA's relationship with Hamas.
Israel says UNRWA school curricula promote opposition to Israel's existence, an allegation turned down by UNRWA, accusing the group of falling under the influence of Hamas.
UNRWA has consistently emphasized its neutrality and sometimes criticizes Hamas and has done so called out militants because they use the facilities to store weapons. According to the agency websitehas disciplined and even fired staff for participating in inappropriate political activities. UNRWA too shares lists of its employees at regional governments, including Israel.
In 2021, UNRWA reappointed its Gaza director, Matthias Schmale, after he was believed to have complimented the “tremendous sophistication” of Israeli attacks on Gaza during a brief war that year. Late last year, the group accused Hamas of “removing fuel and medical equipment from the agency's compound in Gaza City,” before later removing the posts following a backlash.
In 2005, then-head of UNRWA Peter Hansen said it was likely that UNRWA staff included Hamas members and supporters, given the extent of support for Hamas within the broader Gaza population. function.
Still, experts say that despite the tensions, some Israeli security officials privately accept the benefits of UNRWA's existence.
“The view of the Israeli security establishment has long been that UNRWA is ultimately preferable to what they think the alternative would be without UNRWA,” says Anne Irfan, author of a book on UNRWA and Palestinian refugees. “It provides services that would otherwise really fall under the jurisdiction of the occupying power under international law.”
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad contributed reporting from Haifa, Israel.