UNRWA, a Lifeline for Palestinians amid Decades of Conflict

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, whose operations in Israel were banned by the Israeli parliament on Monday, is seen by some as an "irreplaceable" humanitarian lifeline in Gaza, but as an accomplice of Hamas by others.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has for more than seven decades provided essential aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees, AFP reported.
The agency has also long been a lightening rod for harsh Israeli criticism, which has ramped up dramatically since the start of the war in Gaza, following Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks last year.
UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has seen more than 220 of its staff killed in the war there -- even as it has faced dramatic funding cuts and calls for its dismantlement amid Israeli accusations that some of its workers took part in the October 7 attack.
Created in wake of war
UNRWA was established in December 1949 by the UN General Assembly in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli conflict following Israel's creation in May 1948.
The agency, which began its operations on May 1, 1950, was tasked with assisting some 750,000 Palestinians who had been expelled during the war.
It was supposed to be a short-term fix, but in the absence of a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, the General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until June 30, 2026.
Millions of refugees
The number of Palestinian refugees under its charge has meanwhile ballooned to nearly six million across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Palestinian refugees are defined as "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 conflict".
Their descendents also have refugee status.
Operations
UNRWA is unique among UN organizations in its direct service delivery model, and is the main provider of basic public services, including education, healthcare, and social services for registered Palestinian refugees.
It employs more than 30,000 people, mainly Palestinian refugees and a small number of international staff.
The organization counts 58 official refugee camps and runs more than 700 schools for over 540,000 students.
It also runs 141 primary healthcare facilities, with nearly seven million patient visits each year, and provides emergency food and cash assistance to some 1.8 million people.
UNRWA in Gaza
In the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas since 2007, the humanitarian situation was already critical before the war between Israel and Hamas began last October, with more than 80 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
The territory, squeezed between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, counts eight camps and around 1.7 million refugees, the overwhelming majority of the population of 2.4 million, according to the UN.
The situation has spiraled into catastrophe following Hamas's deadly attack inside Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 43,000 people, mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.
Two-thirds of buildings have been damaged and nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced, many of them multiple times, the UN says.
"In the midst of all the upheaval, UNRWA, more than ever, is indispensable. UNRWA, more than ever, is irreplaceable," UN chief Antonio Guterres has said.
UNRWA, which employs some 13,000 people in Gaza, has seen two-thirds of its facilities there damaged or destroyed.
Israeli criticism
Israel has long been harshly critical of UNRWA, alleging it is perpetuating the Palestinian refugee problem and that its schools use textbooks that promote hatred of Israel.
Since October 7, the criticism has ballooned, targeting UNRWA in Gaza especially.
In January, Israel accused a dozen of UNRWA's Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7 attack by Hamas.
A series of probes found some "neutrality related issues" at UNRWA, and determined that nine employees "may have been involved" in the October 7 attack, but found no evidence for Israel's chief allegations.
The agency, which traditionally has been funded almost exclusively through voluntary contributions from governments, was plunged into crisis as a string of nations halted their backing over Israel's allegations.
Most donors have since resumed funding.
The barrage of accusations has meanwhile continued, with Israel alleging UNRWA employs "hundreds of Hamas members and even military wing operatives" in Gaza.
Despite objections from the United States and warnings from the UN Security Council, Israeli lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly passed a bill banning UNRWA from working in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem.

Wrapped in gauze from her head to her tiny toes, toddler Ivana Skayki lies nearly motionless in a hospital bed much too big for her. For weeks, she has been treated for severe burns sustained in Israeli strikes on her hometown in southern Lebanon.

Skayki, who turns two next month, sustained burns to nearly 40% of her body, including half of her face, her chest and both upper limbs, according to Ziad Sleiman, plastic surgeon at the specialist burn unit in Beirut's Geitaoui Hospital.

The unit is the only one across Lebanon equipped to deal with burns. Its hallways echo with the screams of children as anxious parents await news from doctors.

Ivana's father Mohammad told Reuters his daughter was burned in Israeli strikes as they prepared to flee their hometown of Al-Aliyah on Sept. 23, the day that Israel dramatically ramped up its strikes on Lebanon.

More than 550 people were killed that day alone, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

"There was a hit, the house shook - everything was breaking, the windows, the roof, everything, the blast was in my house," Skayki recalled. "I thought to myself, 'this could be it, this could be the end.'"

Israel says it makes all possible efforts to avoid civilian casualties and accuses Hezbollah of deliberately basing its fighters in residential areas and using civilians as human shields. Hezbollah has denied the accusation.

The family managed to flee to the southern port city of Tyre, where Ivana got initial treatment. They moved again to another hospital, but with no department there for burns, Ivana only got partial treatment before they could reach Beirut.

Sleiman said Ivana had received skin-graft operations and could be released within days. She still has deep red marks on her face, where some of her skin is peeling.

The hospital has admitted eight children with third-degree burns to half their bodies. It has had to be selective compared to other patients, Sleiman said, because it is short of space.

Geitaoui Hospital's burn unit has a typical capacity of nine beds, but has managed to increase to 25 with help from the health ministry to cope with the influx of patients, said the hospital's medical director Naji Abi Rached.

Most patients stay for up to six weeks because of their critical condition.

"Sometimes the outcome is not positive, due to the extent of the burns," Abi Rached said.

UNRWA, a Lifeline for Palestinians amid Decades of Conflict