January 14, 2025
The Israeli authorities' decision to ban the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is expected to take effect later this month, restricting the agency's ability to operate in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Relief organizations and countries including France, Britain, Germany, and Japan have expressed grave concern over this Israeli move, saying it will have dire consequences for Palestinians, particularly those living in Gaza who rely on aid and services provided by the agency.
But what does the UNRWA ban mean for Palestinians, and why has Israel long objected to the agency's work?
More than a year after the Gaza war, the armed conflict is no longer the only concern for Jumana Emad, a mother of two. She now lives in a constant struggle to obtain food, water, and other basic goods.
Jumana, a 26-year-old journalist living in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, says that the situation is currently worse than it was during the entire duration of the war.
She explains: "There is no food or drink. I have a daughter who desperately needs many things, but not even one is available."
Like nearly all residents of Gaza, Jumana relied on aid and other services provided by UNRWA – which some describe as a lifeline for Palestinians – before and during the war.
UNRWA was established in 1949 with the aim of providing care to 750,000 Palestinians who were forced to leave or flee their homes following the creation of the State of Israel.
Over time, UNRWA became the largest relief agency in Palestinian territories, employing 13,000 people inside the territories and more than 30,000 people across the Middle East.
In total, the agency serves about 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees across the region, including in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
In addition to food and other essential goods, UNRWA provides a range of services through governing authorities, such as education, healthcare, road works, and even loans to Palestinian entrepreneurs.
However, the agency has warned that its operations in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, could be completely halted if the ban – passed by the Israeli Knesset in October – comes into effect on January 28 as planned.
The decision, passed in the Knesset with the approval of 92 members and the rejection of only 10, came after repeated Israeli accusations that UNRWA staff were complicit with Hamas during the October 7 attack.
Israel claims that some agency employees participated in the attacks on that day, and that many others are members of "terrorist organizations."
UNRWA states that any agreements with Hamas were made to enable the agency to carry out its work, and that Israel has never provided evidence to support its allegations that several of its staff are members of terrorist organizations.
Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since taking control in June 2007, after ousting the rival Fatah movement.
While the new law prohibits UNRWA's operations in East Jerusalem and Israel, it also prevents the agency’s staff from working with Israeli officials.
In practice, UNRWA says the decision will make its work in Gaza and the occupied West Bank impossible because the agency relies on agreements with Israel to operate, including the transfer of aid through checkpoints between Israel and Gaza.
Along with the Palestinian Red Crescent, UNRWA handles almost all aid distribution through 11 centers in Gaza.
The agency reports that it has distributed food parcels to nearly 1.9 million people since the war began in Gaza – supply efforts that have become more vital with the rising cost of essential food items like flour.
UNRWA’s West Bank director Roland Frederick says that "if the law comes into effect, it will likely halt UNRWA's operations in the West Bank – including occupied East Jerusalem – and the Gaza Strip."
He adds: "This means more than 47,000 Palestinian children will be without school, and more than half a million Palestinian refugees will be deprived of medical services."
Education in Danger
UNRWA has been providing education to Palestinians since 1950, when the first agency schools were established.
It now runs hundreds of schools in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
But the future of UNRWA schools in Palestinian territories is now uncertain.
Many schools in Gaza were used as temporary shelters for displaced Palestinians during the war.
UNRWA reports that about 70% of its schools in Gaza were damaged during the conflict – some were destroyed, while others were severely affected. The agency notes that 95% of the schools that were damaged were being used as shelters for displaced Palestinians.
Duaa Zourba, a teacher at an UNRWA girls' school in Shufat, East Jerusalem, has worked there for 20 years.
She says: "When we first heard the news (about the ban), we immediately asked the parents about the potential impact on their children."
She adds: "All we could do was tell them that the situation is beyond our control."
The school where Duaa works provides education to 1,500 students and is one of three schools in the Shufat refugee camp – the only Palestinian camp within the boundaries of Jerusalem municipality.
Duaa spoke of increasing concern among students and their families about the potential closure of schools, explaining that "older children might understand the situation, but younger children often hear their mothers talking about the possible closure of schools, and they get anxious."
She adds: "I am very attached to the children. They need us because we are their refuge."
One parent said that closing schools that provide free education would be "catastrophic" for the community.
Decades of Conflict
The decision to ban UNRWA comes after repeated allegations from the Israeli government about UNRWA staff's involvement in the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas militants on towns near Gaza.
In January 2024, Israel claimed that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the attacks on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the detention of 251 others.
Several countries, including the United States, Britain, and Germany, suspended their funding for the agency following those allegations but later reversed their decisions. A UN investigation revealed the involvement of 19 UNRWA employees in the attacks, and contracts with the perpetrators who are still alive were terminated.
Israel later claimed that over 450 UNRWA employees were linked to terrorist organizations, but UNRWA released a review in August stating that Israel had not provided any evidence to support these allegations.
Despite the ban being linked to the October 7 attacks, Israel has long criticized the agency.
One of the main criticisms Israel has against UNRWA is that the agency allows the refugee status to be inherited by future generations of Palestinians, which may fuel their hopes of returning to their homes in historical Palestine, part of which is now Israel.
Yuli Edelstein, one of the drafters of the ban law and a Knesset member from the right-wing Likud party led by Netanyahu, said, "There is no doubt that UNRWA is not part of the solution; it is part of the problem."
Edelstein, who has held various positions in previous governments, added that the agency is "closely linked to Hamas," while UNRWA insists it only engages with Hamas on an "operational level," as the movement is the de facto ruler in Gaza.
He continued: "UNRWA is largely responsible for the fact that instead of trying to rebuild an entire generation of Palestinian youth, it left them as miserable refugees."
Under international law, the children and grandchildren of refugees are also classified as refugees until a permanent solution is reached.
UNRWA stated that its continued existence 75 years after its establishment "was not the choice of the agency but the result of the collective failure of UN member states to find a solution to a political problem."
The Israeli government has repeatedly criticized UNRWA's educational methods and textbooks, claiming that they – according to the Israeli perspective – promote anti-Israel narratives.
In 2022, the Israeli monitoring group IMPACT-se said that educational materials in UNRWA schools teach students that Israel is attempting to "erase Palestinian identity."
The European Commission identified what it described as "antisemitic materials" in Palestinian Authority textbooks and the European Parliament has repeatedly called for EU funding for the Palestinian Authority – which governs parts of the West Bank – to be conditional on the removal of this content.
UNRWA says it conducts "regular and thorough" reviews of all textbooks and learning materials used in its schools "to ensure they align with UN values, UNESCO standards, promote educational excellence, and foster tolerance and human rights."
A Gloomy Future?
It is still unclear how UNRWA’s absence in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, will be compensated, and there are concerns that no organization is equipped to fill this gap.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in July, "There is no alternative" to the agency.
Even before the war broke out, according to agency figures, more than two-thirds of Gaza's Palestinian population relied solely on humanitarian aid to survive, due to the Israeli blockade since 2007.
After the ban was passed, Netanyahu said that "sustainable food aid must remain available in Gaza," and that Israel will work with international partners to ensure this.
Several humanitarian organizations, including the International Red Cross, have questioned the effectiveness of this plan.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s residents, like Jumana Emad, live in uncertainty about where the aid will come from once UNRWA ceases to operate.
Jumana says: "Honestly, we cannot imagine our lives without UNRWA. Who will provide us with food aid? Where will the children learn?"
She insists, "If these services are cut off, the situation will become catastrophic.
