**Date: March 11, 2026**
The Refugee Committee of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) held a virtual meeting yesterday evening (Tuesday), with the participation of its members from various locations and in the presence of the Presidency of the Palestinian National Council and the Head of the Department of Refugee Affairs of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), to discuss the serious political and humanitarian challenges facing the Palestinian refugee issue in the homeland and the diaspora.
The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Refugee Committee, **Walid Al-Awad**, who noted that this important meeting is taking place amid the escalating war of genocide and displacement plans within the context of the intensifying assault on the Palestinian cause and attempts to eliminate the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. He pointed to the growing systematic attempts by the Israeli occupation to impose liquidationist realities targeting the refugee issue, abolish the Right of Return, end the mandate of **UNRWA**, and entrench projects of forced displacement and resettlement.
Participants discussed ways to preserve the refugee issue and strengthen the resilience of Palestinian refugee camps in the face of genocide and ongoing aggression. They also examined mechanisms to mobilize international support in order to secure sustainable funding that would protect the Agency’s mandate and ensure the continuation of its vital services.
The meeting was attended by **Dr. Ahmad Abu Holi**, Member of the Executive Committee of the PLO and Head of the Department of Refugee Affairs; **Ali Faisal**, Vice President of the Palestinian National Council; **Rami Al-Madhoun**, Director-General of Media and Studies and head of the UNRWA file in the Department; **Walid Al-Awad**, Chairman of the Refugee Committee in the PNC; and committee members **Dr. Nasser Abu Al-Atta, Mahmoud Al-Zaq, Saadi Abu Abed, Sufian Matar, Dr. Uri Davis, Khader Al-Kouz, Haitham Zaiter, Mohiuddin Kaoush, and Haitham Arrar**, in addition to **Khaled Abu Aziz**, Director-General of the PNC, and **Rasem Al-Khatib**, Director-General at the Council.
In remarks on behalf of the Presidency of the Palestinian National Council, **Ali Faisal** warned that the occupation’s plan is moving toward a stage of “decisive conflict resolution” through the destruction of refugee camps in order to impose the project of “Greater Israel.”
He stressed that the magnitude of the conspiracy requires unified political, diplomatic, and popular action, especially in light of the political and military developments in the region, including the war of genocide and regional escalation. He pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister **Benjamin Netanyahu** is exploiting the world’s preoccupation with the American-Israeli war on Iran and regional tensions in order to advance his project aimed at the physical and political elimination of the Palestinian people, their rights, identity, and the Palestine Liberation Organization. He emphasized the need to formulate a comprehensive national strategic vision to protect the Palestinian national project and confront plans of displacement, resettlement, and the so-called “alternative homeland.”
Faisal also called for confronting the Commissioner-General’s decision to cut 20% of service programs and staff and urged a reversal of these measures. He called on donor countries to increase their contributions in order to preserve UNRWA and secure the financial budget necessary to meet the needs of refugees. He affirmed that the Palestinian National Council will continue its role in raising the refugee issue and defending the Right of Return and UNRWA in all parliamentary forums.
For his part, **Dr. Ahmad Abu Holi**, Head of the Department of Refugee Affairs, presented a comprehensive briefing addressing the situation of refugees and the serious escalation facing UNRWA. He reaffirmed firm adherence to the Agency’s international mandate based on **UN General Assembly Resolution 302**, rejecting any attempts to undermine its mandate or transfer its responsibilities, as it represents the living international witness to the refugee issue until a just and comprehensive solution is reached that guarantees refugees’ return to their homes in accordance with **Resolution 194**.
Dr. Abu Holi also reviewed the conditions in refugee camps as a result of the systematic war of genocide in the Gaza Strip and the aggression in the northern West Bank, warning against exploiting UNRWA’s financial crisis as a tool of pressure to impose “replacement agendas” aimed at liquidating the refugee issue.
He presented the Department’s strategy for implementing field interventions to restore essential life services such as water, electricity, and infrastructure, while providing urgent cash assistance in parallel with intensified diplomatic efforts to strengthen the resilience of Palestinian refugees and preserve their dignity, as a fundamental pillar for protecting the Right of Return.
He further addressed the challenges facing UNRWA, noting that the Israeli military and legislative campaign aimed at banning the Agency’s activities and closing its offices in occupied Jerusalem coincides with a severe financial crisis being used as political pressure to impose “replacement agendas.”
He warned of the serious contradiction between international political support and the limited financial backing, which has placed UNRWA in a cumulative financial crisis leading to harsh austerity measures affecting employee salaries and causing serious internal labor disputes, paving the way for structural merger schemes and the political liquidation of the refugee issue.
Abu Holi emphasized the pivotal role of the Department of Refugee Affairs in direct intervention to protect the Agency’s mandate, mobilize international financial resources, and confront systematic attacks politically and on the ground to ensure that UNRWA remains the international witness to the Nakba and the Right of Return.
He concluded by presenting details of the **2026 Gaza Refugee Camps Recovery and Reconstruction Plan**, prepared by the Department as a national roadmap to restore life to the devastated camps, enable residents to remain on their land, and preserve UNRWA as the mandated agency responsible for Palestinian refugees until a just solution is reached in accordance with **Resolution 194**.
For his part, **Walid Al-Awad** stressed that targeting UNRWA represents an attempt to dismantle the legal framework of the Palestinian cause embodied in **Resolutions 302 and 194**. He warned that weakening the Agency would pave the way for suspicious alternatives that undermine the rights of refugees. He stressed that protecting the Agency’s mandate and ensuring the continuation of its services is an international obligation that cannot be compromised, warning that any serious decline in its role would lead to social tensions threatening stability in refugee communities and the diaspora.
Members of the Refugee Committee also presented detailed briefings on the conditions of refugees in camps in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. They stressed that attempts to weaken UNRWA are not merely a funding crisis but a systematic prelude to presenting questionable alternatives aimed at undermining the rights of Palestinian refugees, foremost among them the Right of Return guaranteed by **Resolution 194**, which represents a dangerous circumvention of international legal frameworks and UN legitimacy.
Participants stressed the need to launch urgent popular and diplomatic mobilization under the umbrella of the **PLO**, culminating in major activities marking the **78th anniversary of the Nakba**, along with urgent appeals to international, Arab, African, and Asian parliaments to mobilize sustainable political and financial support for UNRWA and uphold its international mandate as a safeguard for refugee rights until return and a just solution are achieved.
They affirmed that the Palestinian refugee issue will remain at the heart of the Palestinian national project and that the refugee camps will continue to stand as living testimony to the crime of forced displacement suffered by the Palestinian people in **1948**, and to the refugees’ unwavering commitment to their inalienable historical rights, foremost among them the Right of Return to their homes from which they were displaced in accordance with **UN Resolution 194**.
Participants adopted the Department of Refugee Affairs’ recovery and reconstruction plan for Palestinian refugee camps as a comprehensive national framework for rebuilding what the occupation has destroyed and strengthening the resilience of Palestinian refugees, ensuring the rehabilitation of infrastructure and essential services in the camps and improving living conditions.
They emphasized that **UNRWA** represents a fundamental pillar in the international system for the protection of Palestinian refugees and that its humanitarian and political role cannot be replaced by any other UN agency or international organization unless a just and comprehensive political solution guaranteeing refugee rights is achieved.
Participants also called on the international community to provide political and legal protection for UNRWA and enable it to carry out its mandate in occupied Jerusalem, and to pressure Israel to respect the Agency’s mandate and reopen its offices, schools, and service institutions that were closed in the city.
They condemned the ongoing Israeli military aggression against refugee camps in the northern West Bank and the accompanying widespread destruction of infrastructure, homes, and vital facilities, as well as the displacement of residents. They warned of efforts by the occupation to expand its military campaign to other camps in the north and south of the West Bank in an attempt to destroy the camps as living witnesses to the Palestinian refugee issue.
Participants also condemned the decision of the conference of the **German Christian Democratic Union (CDU)** calling for the liquidation of UNRWA and the transfer of its responsibilities to the **United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)**, considering this move an attempt to undermine the legal and political specificity of Palestinian refugees and to abolish the principle of inherited refugee status, which protects the rights of approximately **6.2 million Palestinian refugees**.
They also rejected the contents of the **Ian Martin report** as it includes approaches that could undermine UNRWA’s mandate or open the door to transferring its responsibilities to other UN bodies.
Participants reaffirmed their full support for the rights of UNRWA employees and their legitimate demands, calling on the Agency’s administration to respond to workers’ unions and resolve outstanding issues through dialogue. They also expressed their rejection of austerity policies adopted by the Agency to address its financial crisis, warning that arbitrary mass layoffs, reduced working hours, or salary cuts would have serious consequences for the quality of services provided to refugees.
They also stressed the need to establish an emergency response cell to assist displaced residents from the Tyre camps (**Al-Bass, Al-Burj Al-Shamali, and Rashidieh**) and to coordinate with UNRWA to open and equip shelters, while calling on the President to allocate an emergency budget for the Department of Refugee Affairs to meet urgent needs.
Participants further emphasized strengthening coordination between the Department of Refugee Affairs, the **General Authority for Palestinian Arab Refugees in Syria**, and **UNRWA** to develop reconstruction plans for the camps of **Yarmouk, Handarat, and Daraa**, ensure dignified living conditions to encourage the return of displaced residents, and pressure the Agency to provide cash and food assistance and prevent further reductions in its services.
At the conclusion of the meeting, participants commended the positions of Arab host countries for Palestinian refugees that reject assuming additional burdens or replacing UNRWA’s responsibilities, and reaffirmed their commitment to the continuation of the Agency’s work under its UN mandate until a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue is reached. They also praised the efforts of the Department of Refugee Affairs and its head in defending UNRWA’s mandate, confronting attempts to undermine or eliminate its role, and mobilizing political and diplomatic support to preserve its international mandate.
