Date: 7 January 2026
The Commissioner-General of UNRWA has been urged to immediately reverse his administration’s decisions that undermine stability and strike at the core of international justice.
The Department of Refugee Affairs of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has firmly rejected UNRWA’s decisions regarding the mass dismissal of its employees and the privatization of security services, describing them as a dangerous approach that goes beyond a financial crisis to the level of systematic “administrative execution.”
The Department of Refugee Affairs has initiated intensive and urgent communications with all Arab host countries for Palestinian refugees, with the aim of forging a unified and pressure-driven Arab stance that would compel UNRWA’s administration to immediately retract these decisions.
Undermining the job security of thousands of employees will lead to an explosion of tensions in the region and destabilize refugee camps across UNRWA’s areas of operation.
The Department of Refugee Affairs of the Palestine Liberation Organization announced its outright rejection of the unjust and accelerated decisions taken by the administration of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) at the beginning of 2026, under the pretext of financial deficit. The Department described these measures as a “dangerous approach” that transcends the financial crisis and amounts to systematic “administrative execution.”
In a press statement issued today (Wednesday), Dr. Ahmad Abu Holi, member of the PLO Executive Committee and Head of the Department of Refugee Affairs, stated that the 20% salary reduction imposed on UNRWA employees in Gaza and the West Bank, the termination of contracts of 570 Gaza-based employees currently abroad, and the suspension of UNRWA security staff at its Amman headquarters in favor of a private security company constitute a stab in the back of employees who have served as a safety valve for the Agency and who have sacrificed 382 martyrs from among their ranks under direct Israeli bombardment. He emphasized that employees should not be “rewarded” through dismissal, salary cuts, and the displacement of their families, but rather by safeguarding their rights in accordance with United Nations charters and international humanitarian law.
Dr. Abu Holi stressed that UNRWA’s recent decisions represent a blatant violation of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a repudiation of all prior understandings reached between the Department of Refugee Affairs and UNRWA’s administration. These understandings clearly stipulated the full restoration of salaries and the cancellation of the so-called “exceptional leave” once conditions allowed for employees’ return—commitments that were reaffirmed in exchanged correspondence. The decisions also contradict the assurances made by the Commissioner-General to staff in his letter dated 29 December, in which he pledged to adopt measures aimed at balancing the protection of UNRWA’s mandate, the continuity of services, and the safeguarding of staff status.
Abu Holi further pointed out that the decision to terminate the contracts of Gaza employees stranded in Egypt was taken at a highly suspicious timing, coinciding with arrangements to reopen the Rafah crossing in both directions and the readiness of employees in Egypt to return to Gaza to resume their duties and contribute to reconstruction efforts. He stressed that this timing raises serious questions about the true intentions behind these decisions and their alignment with efforts seeking to marginalize UNRWA’s field role at a critical juncture for the Gaza Strip—an issue that demands clear and transparent answers.
He affirmed that attempts at “privatization” and “mass dismissal” come despite strong international backing that began with United Nations General Assembly resolutions and rulings by the International Court of Justice, which affirmed the close and enduring link between UNRWA’s mandate and the realization of the Palestinian people’s human rights, and obligated Israel, as the occupying power, to cooperate with UNRWA in carrying out its work last October. This support was further reinforced politically by the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming vote to renew UNRWA’s mandate for three additional years. He warned that these measures amount to capitulation to intense disinformation campaigns aimed at dismantling the Agency and stripping Palestinians of their refugee status.
Abu Holi underscored that the financial crisis cited by UNRWA’s administration to justify its decisions lacks credibility, noting that financial facts clearly demonstrate that contracting a private security company is significantly more costly than the total salaries and entitlements of local security staff—thereby completely invalidating the financial justification and confirming the existence of other underlying motives.
He called on Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini to immediately and unconditionally reverse these decisions, which undermine stability and violate the essence of international justice, stressing that any infringement on employees’ job security constitutes an infringement on UNRWA’s mandate itself.
Abu Holi also confirmed that the Department of Refugee Affairs has launched intensive and urgent communications with all Arab host countries for Palestinian refugees to formulate a unified and effective Arab position capable of forcing UNRWA’s administration to retract its decisions to cut salaries, dismiss employees, and privatize services announced at the start of 2026. He added that the Department has opened direct and high-level coordination channels with the General Union of UNRWA Workers to translate popular and trade union rejection into field action opposing the administration’s policy of “administrative execution.”
He warned that undermining the job security of thousands of employees would lead to an escalation of instability across the region and within refugee camps throughout UNRWA’s areas of operation.
Finally, Abu Holi reaffirmed the Palestine Liberation Organization’s firm commitment to defending UNRWA’s mandate and ensuring the continuation of its vital services, which cannot be replaced or dispensed with, as an international obligation toward Palestinian refugees until a just solution to their cause is achieved in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194. At the same time, he stressed the defense of employees’ legitimate rights and job security, emphasizing that the stability of UNRWA’s workforce is an integral and inseparable component of the Agency’s sustainability and continued operation.
