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In the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the United Nations has not held back in their anti-Israel bias. Since the October 7th massacre, various UN agencies have continued their partiality with largely disproportionate condemnation of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, and extremely muted to non-existent critique of Hamas, a designated terrorist organization that murders and terrorizes both Israeli and Palestinian civilians. One UN agency that we hear about often in the Israel-Hamas war is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). This UN agency was established to carry out relief and works programs specifically for Palestine refugees, making the Palestinians the only group in the world who have their own internationally recognized refugee agency. Knowing this, we must ask ourselves:
- Why is there a specific need for UNRWA?
- How do policies and treatment of Palestinian refugees differ from the millions of other refugees around the world?
- Does UNRWA actually offer a meaningful contribution for Gazans?
To answer the first question, why?
Both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) and UNRWA were established around the same time. The UNHRC was created following the second World War, originally to help Europeans who were forced to flee their home during the war, and since expanded to aid all persons who were forced to flee their homes due to conflict and persecution. Today UNHRC is responsible for all refugees worldwide, except Palestinians. UNRWA was established following the 1948 Arab-Israel war to aid “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 War.” They are responsible for all Palestinians in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. According to the UNRWA’s FAQ section of their website, the reason for the separate agencies is quite arbitrary, a decision that was adopted in the early 1950s based on the world events at the time. Following, both UNRWA and the UNCRC’s mandates were continuously renewed, and despite different world events over time, the bureaucratic decision of the 1950s remains in place more than 70 years later. The website also states that neither agency can unilaterally change the status, seemingly indicating that one or both parties are uninterested in such a change. It is important to note that the number of Jewish refugees who were forced to flee from Arab countries to Israel was nearly equal to the number of Palestinian refugees who fled Israel as a result of the 1948 war, yet no special refugee agency was created to aid the Jewish refugees.
Next we can explore how UNRWA policies differ from UNHCR
One of UNHCR’s stated goals is to help find refugees “a place to call home so they can rebuild their lives.” For UNRWA however, this is not the case. Their website explains that “UNRWA does not have a mandate to resettle Palestine refugees and has no authority to seek lasting, durable solutions for refugees.” Since UNHCR is not allowed to help find Palestinians a lasting solution and UNRWA is not even mandated to try, the Palestinian refugees are essentially stuck in limbo.
For refugees under UNHCR, once an individual finds a permanent home, whether they can safely return to their place of origin or they are granted a new nationality, they are no longer considered refugees and graduate from UNHCR’s care. Since UNRWA has no authority over finding a permanent solution, Palestinians hold their refugee status as long as they remain in UNRWA operated regions and until there is a lasting solution in the area. Even obtaining citizenship in one of the areas operated by UNRWA does not cause someone to lose their refugee status. Moreover, Palestinian refugees pass their status on to all descendants, including legally adopted children. This means that current Palestinian refugees include the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the originally defined refugee population. Given the conditions to gain and pass on refugee status, and the near impossibility of having the status removed, the original 750,000 refugees UNRWA was initially responsible for has multiplied to some 5.9 million Palestinians who are eligible for UNRWA services today.
Finally, does UNRWA offer any meaningful contribution in Gaza?
As we have reviewed, UNRWA has virtually no ability or intention to help Palestinians find a permanent solution, so what do they do? The UN agency is responsible for education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure, microfinance, and emergency assistance. They are tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and protection for Palestinians, so are they living up to their goals?
UNRWA staff are not permitted to affiliate with any particular group, and they are required to remain apolitical. However, ties to Hamas have been found repeatedly among UNRWA teachers in Gaza. UNRWA staff regularly employ lessons that glorify terrorism, call for martyrdom and demonize Israelis and Jews. Hamas rockets and weapons have consistently been found inside UNRWA buildings and schools. Hospitals in Gaza have been uncovered as some of the largest Hamas military control sites, housing not only major weapons arsenals but also strategic command centers. Humanitarian aid meant for civilians is systematically stolen from Palestinian civilians in Gaza, with well-documented evidence of Hamas terrorists hijacking fuel, food, medicine, and other humanitarian necessities earmarked for Palestinian refugees. Further, the terrorists have spent billions of dollars of funding meant for Palestinian civilians on a major terror tunnel network underground. Entrances to these tunnels have been found in many public infrastructures, including near UNRWA buildings. An UNRWA official was even accused of housing one of the Israeli hostages in Gaza who was released during the temporary ceasefire. This clearly shows that UNRWA members in Gaza are not only acutely aware and remain silent as Hamas members terrorize Palestinian refugees and act to promote terror over civilian needs, but they are often directly complicit in terrorist crimes against the refugees that they are tasked to protect.
So, in summary, UNRWA has no mandate or intention to provide a permanent solution for Palestinian refugees, they offer virtually no way for refugees to lose their refugee status, while the conditions to gain refugee status lead to exponential growth in the population. In addition, UNRWA staff are complicit with Hamas terrorist activity that indoctrinates and abuses Gazan civilians. High figures of registered Palestinian refugees allows UNRWA to request more funding, therefore UNRWA monetarily benefits from inflated numbers. They are tasked with their responsibility until there is a lasting and durable solution in the region, a solution that has been rejected by the Palestinian leadership numerous times. Meanwhile, UNRWA employees are actively acting to indoctrinate and incite hatred of Jews among Gazan civilians, fueling terrorism and therefore making any possibility of peace a more distant possibility.
It appears that the internationally funded UN agency tasked with assisting Palestinians is in fact benefiting from an endless loop of exponentially growing refugees and persistent instability, poverty and suffering among the population that they are meant to be serving.
Sources / Articles 👁️
UNRWA | FAQ Section
https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are/frequently-asked-questions
UN-Watch | Fact Checking UNRWA Claims About Teachers and Education
https://unwatch.org/fact-checking-unrwa-claims-about-teachers-and-education/
The Hill | Stop funding UNRWA
JCPA | UNRWA: Blurring the Lines between Humanitarianism and Politics
https://jcpa.org/overview_palestinian_manipulation/unrwa_blurring_the_lines/
Additional source/item:
The IDF spokesperson released a recording of an IDF officer speaking to a Gazan resident regarding humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. The resident clearly describes how Hamas has complete control over all aid distributed by UNRWA, and how UNRWA officials are Hamas members.
The aid goes first and foremost to Hamas fighters, not to the civilians of Gaza. This is another clear piece of evidence of how UNRWA is failing to serve Palestinian refugees and instead is made up of Hamas terrorists. This means that the UN and international funding is paying Hamas members salaries, effectively funding a terrorist organization and failing innocent Palestinians in Gaza.
Recording with English subtitles to embed