Date: 2/4/2026
Dr. Ahmed Abu Holi, Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Head of the Department of Refugee Affairs, discussed during his meeting with the Head of the Representative Office of the Netherlands to the State of Palestine, Ambassador Michel Rentenaar, the conditions in Palestinian refugee camps, ways to support refugees’ rights and improve their living conditions, as well as the existential challenges and financial crises facing UNRWA.
During the meeting held today at the headquarters of the Department of Refugee Affairs in Ramallah, Abu Holi reviewed the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Palestinian refugee camps in the homeland and the diaspora, as a result of declining basic services and escalating crises. He called for strengthening sustainable international funding and intensifying relief and development interventions to ensure improved living conditions for refugees.
Abu Holi briefed the Dutch Ambassador on the “most critical” financial crisis for 2026, as the Agency is facing a funding gap estimated at $200 million, which has forced it to implement harsh austerity measures, including a 20% reduction in salaries and the termination of 570 employees in Egypt. This directly threatens the system of basic services, including education, health, and relief, and undermines the humanitarian protection provided to millions of Palestinian refugees across the Agency’s five fields of operation. He warned of the risks of failing to translate international political momentum into actual financial flows.
Abu Holi warned of a systematic campaign targeting the liquidation of UNRWA’s mandate, which has peaked with Israeli Knesset decisions to ban its activities, close its schools, confiscate its headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied Jerusalem, and cut off essential services to its facilities, including water, electricity, communication, and internet services, as well as replacing the United Nations flag with the Israeli flag and violating its diplomatic immunities.
He also reviewed the unprecedented heavy toll paid by the Agency in the history of the United Nations, with 391 of its staff killed and 75% of its facilities in the Gaza Strip destroyed, alongside the targeting of camps in the northern West Bank, which witnessed large-scale military operations targeting camp infrastructure and UNRWA service centers. This has hindered the delivery of vital aid and exacerbated the suffering of refugees amid field sieges and political restrictions aimed at removing the only international witness to the refugee issue.
Abu Holi called on the Netherlands, based on its role as a host country for international courts, to take a leading position to ensure respect for international conventions, legal accountability, and the implementation of the advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice, including the Court’s opinion regarding the obligations of the Israeli occupation toward the work and presence of United Nations organizations, away from “double standards,” particularly in light of the war of extermination, destruction of camps in the Gaza Strip, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, demolition of homes, and aggression against camps in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.
Abu Holi expressed his appreciation to the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for its principled positions in supporting refugees’ rights, rejecting settlement expansion, and its continued support for Palestinian state institutions. He stressed that preserving UNRWA is an urgent humanitarian necessity to ensure regional stability and safeguard the internationally guaranteed rights of refugees.
For his part, Mr. Michel Rentenaar affirmed his country’s commitment to supporting UNRWA as a fundamental pillar of stability and its keenness to continue cooperation to ensure the delivery of vital assistance to Palestinian refugees.
He emphasized the importance of transparency and enhancing efficiency within UNRWA, affirming his country’s support for the continuation of humanitarian and development programs that contribute to improving the living conditions of refugees.
The two sides agreed to strengthen coordination and joint cooperation, and to continue working with international partners to protect the rights of Palestinian refugees and improve their living conditions.
