| The United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) was established to provide essential humanitarian services to Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Nakba. They provide education, health clinics, and social services to over 5 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza. In Gaza, where two-thirds of the population are refugees from what is now Israel, UNRWA is the main source of employment as well as basic services for the beleaguered population. It needs to raise funds for its operations from different countries and chronically appears to operate in crisis mode, as its services, initially expected to be temporary pending the refugees’ imminent return, have been required now for over 75 years. UNRWA gets attacked from all sides, trying to balance its mandate to provide basic services, pending the return, with the desires of many that it ceases to exist and for Palestinians to settle permanently outside Palestine and give up any desire to return. UNRWA has received international awards for the dedicated humanitarian work of its staff, both foreign and local, yet it is an easy target for Israel and supporters of Israel who claim UNRWA identifies too closely with the people it is supposed to serve. The US Congress perennially threatens to cut off its funding. However, Israel is generally pleased to allow UNRWA to carry the burden of caring for the minimal needs of the refugees—which under international law should be the responsibility of Israel as occupying power—while it simultaneously continues to attack UNRWA as a hostile organization. With the relentless attacks on Palestinian governmental institutions since October 7 (which are run by Hamas), in Gaza UNRWA has become the sole institution and source of services for most Gazans. Their schools became a refuge for people forced to leave their homes by Israeli orders. As 1.9 million Palestinians became homeless, many crowded into UNRWA schools and installations, which did not escape bombardment, but were relatively safer than open spaces. Their supply of water, food, and space has been overwhelmed by the sheer number of those seeking UNRWA services or shelter within their various locations. As of December 2, over 1 million people have been sheltering in 99 UNRWA premises in the Middle, Khan Younis, and Rafah areas. Out of a total of 156 installations, 85 installations have been damaged and 130 UNRWA employees killed. The number has increased since then. UNRWA employees have been without salaries and many have had their own homes destroyed, and yet they work tirelessly to try and address the needs of the refugees, particularly those sheltering in their facilities. Just to provide water, bathrooms, toilet paper, a bare minimum of food, and mattresses to sleep on is a huge logistical task, especially since the Israelis have only allowed a limited number of aid trucks into Gaza. The Commissioner General of UNRWA stated that this situation is a catastrophe that can only be described as “hell on earth,” with “repeated disregard for international humanitarian law, and a disgraceful manipulation and conditioning of humanitarian aid.” In the absence of governmental authority, under constant bombardment, and with extremely limited resources, UNRWA continues to be the one stable element in the lives of the majority of the population. I salute UNRWA and all its brave workers for their sacrificial service under impossible conditions. |
