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Palestinians Warn against Plans to Weaken their UN Agency

The UNRWA for Palestinian refugees is the only major UN body dedicated exclusively to one conflict and one people. MOHAMMED ABED AFP/File
The UNRWA for Palestinian refugees is the only major UN body dedicated exclusively to one conflict and one people. MOHAMMED ABED AFP/File
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Palestinians Warn against Plans to Weaken their UN Agency

The UNRWA for Palestinian refugees is the only major UN body dedicated exclusively to one conflict and one people. MOHAMMED ABED AFP/File
The UNRWA for Palestinian refugees is the only major UN body dedicated exclusively to one conflict and one people. MOHAMMED ABED AFP/File

A proposal by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees to delegate some services to other United Nations agencies has sparked outrage among Palestinians, who have warned of a plot to "dismantle" the body.

Established in 1949, a year after Israel was created, UNRWA is the only major UN body dedicated exclusively to one conflict and one people, and holds a symbolic role that experts say matches its importance as provider for Palestinian refugees.

The agency has long been a target of Israeli criticism, with accusations it has fueled the conflict in part by teaching anti-Zionist messages at its schools.

UNRWA is "not just about the delivery of services", said Muhammed Shehada from the Swiss-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

"As long as UNRWA is there, it's a reminder that the international community has a responsibility to solve the issue of Palestinian refugees," he told AFP.

The agency tasked with assisting Palestinians who were forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israel's creation -- and their descendants -- has faced a funding crunch for years, regularly falling tens of millions of dollars short of its stated needs.

At first glance, the announcement last month by agency chief Philippe Lazzarini that UNRWA could ask other UN bodies to help with service delivery may have looked like a bland, bureaucratic cost-sharing plan.

Counting primarily "on voluntary funding from donors would not be reasonable" going forward, he said in a statement.

"One option that is currently being explored is to maximize partnerships within the broader UN system."

Palestinians saw those remarks as a potentially devastating blow to UNRWA's long-term mission.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the plan would "violate" the UN resolutions that set up UNRWA, while the Palestine Liberation Organization said refugees would be outraged.

Mohammad al-Madhoun, a senior official with the Hamas group, which controls the Gaza Strip, described the proposal as "an attempt to dismantle UNRWA as a prelude to ending its work".

- Budget gaps -
With more than 30,000 employees and a budget of some $1.6 billion this year, UNRWA is a frontline provider of healthcare, education and other services to some 5.7 million Palestinian refugees spread across the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank as well as in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

Former US president Donald Trump publicly sided with Israel in blasting UNRWA and cut off its funding.

The agency has firmly defended its school curriculum against pro-Israel critics, though Lazzarini told European Union lawmakers last year that problematic issues were being "addressed".

President Joe Biden's administration has since restored funding, but Lazzarini warned in November that UNRWA was facing an "existential threat" over budget gaps.

Agency spokeswoman Tamara Alrifai told AFP that this year would see another $100 million shortfall that could worsen given "the increased cost of commodities and food that the ongoing Ukraine crisis has provoked".

- 'Green light' -
For Samer Sinijlawi, head of the Jerusalem Development Fund, which specializes in Palestinian humanitarian affairs, Lazzarini's proposal was in part an attempt to test "the Palestinian pulse" ahead of a 2023 UN General Assembly vote on renewing UNRWA's mandate.

But it also gave "a green light" to countries that have been trying "to manipulate this mandate and gradually end the work of UNRWA", Sinijlawi told AFP.

He accused Lazzarini of overstepping his authority, arguing the Swiss national's job was not to consider scaling back UNRWA's work but rather to implement UN resolutions on Palestinian refugees, especially on the right of return.

Former agency spokesman Chris Gunness said that "even if UNRWA is dismantled or its services farmed out, Palestine refugees remain human beings with inalienable rights."

He stressed that while any blow to UNRWA's future could be perceived as a win for Israel, it would not mean that "Palestinian refugees and their right of return will magically evaporate".

But Shehada from Euro-Med Monitor argued that any "de-prioritization" of the agency would be seen as diminishing "the Palestinian cause in general".

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Arab World

UN Says 5.8 mn Refugee Children Out of School

Syrian refugee children attend a class at a school in Mount Lebanon, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki
Syrian refugee children attend a class at a school in Mount Lebanon, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki
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UN Says 5.8 mn Refugee Children Out of School

Syrian refugee children attend a class at a school in Mount Lebanon, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki
Syrian refugee children attend a class at a school in Mount Lebanon, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki

Some 5.8 million refugee children were out of school in 2025, the United Nations said Friday, warning that funding cuts threatened to make the situation worse.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 44 percent of the world's 13.1 million school-age refugee children were out of school last year.

"Education is protection. But it is also a pathway to opportunity and self-reliance," said Barham Salih, the UN high commissioner for refugees, AFP reported.

"At a time of severe pressure on humanitarian and development financing, cuts to education risk reversing decades of collective investment and closing opportunities for a generation of young people."

The former Iraqi president, who was a refugee, said that looking back on his own life, "education gave me opportunities that displacement might otherwise have denied me".

"Displacement should not determine the limits of a child's life."

UNHCR said that while 65 percent of refugee children of primary school age were enrolled in education in 2025, only 32 percent were enrolled in secondary.

Refugee tertiary education enrolment reached a record 11 percent in 2025.

Earlier this week, UNHCR said its available funding had fallen from $5.2 billion in 2024 to $3.9 billion in 2025, while the number of people it is mandated to protect is hovering around historically high levels.

UNHCR said it needed $8.5 billion this year to protect refugees, but by the end of July had received only 32 percent of that amount ($2.7 billion).

UNHCR said nearly 8.3 million refugees and other forcibly displaced people faced losing vital assistance from the agency as protection services crumble due to the "severe" funding cuts.

Arab World

Who Are Hezbollah's Remaining Allies in Lebanon?

Hezbollah supporter weeps during a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the death of party leader Hassan Nasrallah . Nasrallah was killed in a massive Israeli air strike on September 27, 2024. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
Hezbollah supporter weeps during a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the death of party leader Hassan Nasrallah . Nasrallah was killed in a massive Israeli air strike on September 27, 2024. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
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Who Are Hezbollah's Remaining Allies in Lebanon?

Hezbollah supporter weeps during a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the death of party leader Hassan Nasrallah . Nasrallah was killed in a massive Israeli air strike on September 27, 2024. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
Hezbollah supporter weeps during a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the death of party leader Hassan Nasrallah . Nasrallah was killed in a massive Israeli air strike on September 27, 2024. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa

The second anniversary of the assassinations of former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine exposed a grim reality facing Hezbollah inside Lebanon. It showed that the group has lost its network of domestic allies, as evidenced by the absence, for the first time in two decades, of figures who had been allied with the group before the 2024 war.

Two years after the assassinations, observers closely following the group's situation say Hezbollah is facing not only the challenge of rebuilding its capabilities and reorganizing its ranks, but also the erosion of the network of alliances it built over many years. A number of political forces appear to have reconsidered the value of maintaining ties with the group amid shifts in the balance of power domestically and regionally.

Among its most prominent former allies, the only one to attend the commemoration of Nasrallah was Suleiman Frangieh, head of the Marada Movement, who had been the group's candidate for the presidency before President Joseph Aoun was elected, along with leaders representing the Amal Movement, its partner in the Shiite duo.

Political Cover Unravels

Hezbollah succeeded in building a broad network of political alliances spanning most of Lebanon's sects and denominations after signing the 2006 memorandum of understanding with the Free Patriotic Movement. According to its opponents, this enabled the group to secure "political cover" for retaining its weapons and expanding its influence, eventually entrenching a parallel reality alongside state institutions.

But this network began to gradually unravel after the "Gaza Support" war, alongside the major military setback suffered by Hezbollah and the resulting change in its position within Lebanon's political equation. One of the most prominent signs of this unraveling was the distancing of key allies, foremost among them the Free Patriotic Movement on the Christian political scene, along with the declining presence of its allies among Sunni and Druze forces.

The distancing of Hezbollah's allies is not linked solely to the shift in the balance of power after the war, but also to the political and financial risks that have come to accompany close ties with Hezbollah. This comes amid US sanctions that have already targeted individuals and entities linked to the group or accused of supporting it, as well as threats to expand the sanctions to include other allies and political figures. This has prompted some of the group's allies to reassess their calculations, fearing that their relationship with Hezbollah could turn from a source of political influence into a source of costs and sanctions.

Transactional Alliances

Dr. Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, said the "cross-sectarian network" the group sought to build after entering politics was essentially "marginal." He noted that "the group long benefited from its military strength to build broad political influence and from presenting itself as a force capable of establishing a balance with Israel."

According to Khashan, the group spent years "entrenching a narrative based on taking the battle to the Galilee and portraying the existence of a military balance with Israel," a narrative that "a large part of the Shiite community believed." But the military strength Hezbollah had amassed, which was considered one of its main sources of influence in the region, "suffered an unprecedented blow during the war, which inevitably affected its political position."

Khashan told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hezbollah had, throughout the past period, "provided political cover for parties and forces in exchange for obtaining cover for its policies and weapons, making many of the alliances closer to transactional alliances and exchanges of interests than to firmly established political or ideological partnerships."

Khashan believes that "the collapse of the balance of power that allowed the group to manage these relationships will make rebuilding its previous network of alliances extremely difficult, particularly as political forces that once saw benefits and political protection in an alliance with it now face a different reality." He expects the Amal Movement, through new figures, to assume leadership of the Shiite community in the coming phase.

Alienation Likely to Increase

Political writer and editor-in-chief of the Janoubia website Ali Al-Amin, for his part, said Hezbollah, which had been "a center of attraction for allies and political patronage for many years, is no longer so today, three years after the start of the Support War. It currently lacks allies and is facing an internal and external siege, a reality that can be readily observed." Al-Amin added: "This was clearly evident at the commemoration of the assassinations of its two former secretaries-general, as most of those who had once competed to sit in the front row were absent."

Al-Amin told Asharq Al-Awsat that "this alienation is likely to increase," noting that "the issue of weapons is another matter related to Hezbollah's role and position, which does not appear to have understood what befell it, the Shiites, and Lebanon as a result of a major catastrophe. It remains committed to its role as an Iranian tool subject to the calculations set by the Supreme Leader from inside Iran."

Al-Amin concluded: "In light of the current political and security circumstances, and with the group continuing to use rhetoric that is at odds with reality and its new facts, it will find no resonance beyond its supporters. Its visits to some political forces have not produced anything that could be described as a restoration of its alliances or friendships. In practical terms, it is trying to climb out of the hole it fell into by falling into more holes, which will deepen its predicament and expose its inability to redefine its existence on the foundations of the state."

He added: "In view of all this, it cannot be expected that the group will repair its fractured alliances. Rather, they will continue to collapse and disappear."

Arab World

Al-Alimi Announces Start of Full-Scale Military Campaign Against Houthis

Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi (Saba)
Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi (Saba)
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Al-Alimi Announces Start of Full-Scale Military Campaign Against Houthis

Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi (Saba)
Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi (Saba)

Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi on Sunday announced the start of military operations to reclaim the remaining territory of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire country, marking an official transition from a phase of preparation and mobilization to open military action.

In an address to the Yemeni people, Al-Alimi said the decision to begin the operations was taken after the necessary procedures and measures had been completed and based on decisions by the National Defense Council. He said he had instructed the armed forces, security forces, and all military formations to carry out their duties according to approved plans "until the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist militia."

Al-Alimi justified the decision by saying that opportunities for de-escalation had been exhausted. He said the state had given peace sufficient time and opportunities, while the Houthi group had responded with further mobilization, escalation, attacks, and threats against civilians, national facilities, neighboring countries, and international waterways.

He stressed that the announced battle is not a war against residents of areas under Houthi control, nor against any sect or tribe, but rather "a battle for the state and its citizens and to restore its institutions." He said its objective is to end the seizure of Yemenis' will and political future through the use of force.

Al-Alimi delivered a direct message to residents in Houthi-controlled areas, calling on them to stay away from military positions, gatherings, and supply routes, and to protect their children from being drawn into the fighting. At the same time, he reiterated the state's commitment to the safe return and declared amnesty for those who lay down their weapons and stop fighting alongside the group.

In a message to government forces and the resistance, the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council stressed that the mission is "not only to reclaim the land, but to restore the state to it." He called for the protection of civilians and property and adherence to the law, stressing that there would be no room for revenge, retaliation, or attacks on innocent people.

Directives to the Government

On the civilian front, Al-Alimi said he had instructed the government to prepare a program of action to run in parallel with the military operations, so that state institutions would begin assuming their responsibilities in areas reclaimed by government forces as they are recovered.

The priorities he outlined include resuming the payment of state employees' salaries and addressing outstanding dues retroactively, launching an urgent recovery and reconstruction program, repairing damaged roads, electricity and water networks, and facilities, and creating conditions for the return of displaced people and the resumption of economic activity.

Al-Alimi said the success of the battle would not be measured by the number of cities reclaimed, but by the number of citizens who regain security, families that return to their homes, and measures that prevent a return to practices of killing, oppression, and depriving the people of their will.

He also reiterated the commitment of the Presidential Leadership Council and the government to the outcome of the Saudi-sponsored south-south dialogue, in a manner that ensures a fair and comprehensive solution to the southern issue. He called on brothers and friends, as well as the international community, to support Yemen, its armed forces, and national institutions, and to support humanitarian and economic efforts and recovery and reconstruction programs.

Al-Alimi concluded by announcing that the state's military, security, and civilian institutions had entered a "state of full mobilization" until the mission was accomplished, stressing that the new phase seeks to restore the state to its territory and institutions and return weapons to their "natural place under the authority of the law."