The UN
agency that provides aid to Palestinians has been a vital lifeline in the Gaza
Strip for generations — and it was a point of contention with Israel long
before some of the agency’s employees were accused of involvement in the
Hamas-led
Oct. 7 assault on Israel.
اضافة اعلان
The
allegation, made by Israel, is a serious blow to the reputation of the UN
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, generally known as UNRWA. The
claim was acted on by both the UN, which said Friday that it had fired the
accused workers and was investigating, and the US, which said it was suspending
some funding for the agency.
Here’s a
closer look at the organization and its work.
What does
UNRWA do?
UNRWA
provides an array of social services for people registered as Palestinian
refugees in the wars surrounding the formation of Israel and for their
descendants in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and
Syria.
The agency
looms especially large in Gaza, where most of the population of more than 2
million people are registered as refugees. Gaza has been under a long-standing
Israeli blockade. No nation’s government takes even partial responsibility for
governing the territory, and the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited
powers in the West Bank, was effectively expelled from Gaza in a 2007 power
struggle with Hamas.
UNRWA
builds and operates schools, medical clinics, shelters, and playgrounds
throughout the territory. It provides food, housing assistance, and emergency
loans, and even oversees some garbage collection. It is one of the largest
employers in Gaza, with 13,000 workers, most of them Palestinian, a rarity in
an enclave where almost half of adults are unemployed.
“Essentially,
for the last few decades we have been operating a parallel government in Gaza,”
Hector Sharp, head of the agency’s legal office, said in an October interview.
What are
the allegations against UNRWA?
It is not
entirely clear.
UN and US
officials referred to claims that some UNRWA employees may have been “involved
in” the Oct. 7 attacks but did not elaborate on that involvement or say whether
it included any of the worst atrocities committed that day.
The State
Department referred to 12 employees being accused and fired — UNRWA did not
offer a number — but it is unclear what kind of work they did or how senior
they were. It also remains to be seen whether investigations will yield more
such allegations.
What is
UNRWA’s relationship with Israel?
Israel has
long accused UNRWA of operating in collusion with Hamas, helping it
indoctrinate Gaza residents with anti-Israel propaganda, and turning a blind
eye to Hamas militants firing rockets at Israel and operating a vast tunnel
network in the territory.
Hamas
oversees what little civilian public administration exists in Gaza, so people
and agencies under its control inevitably interact with the agency, but the
extent and nature of that cooperation have been the subject of many competing
claims.
Israel
also objects to labeling those born outside Israel as refugees.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone so far as to blame the agency for
perpetuating rather than alleviating the plight of Palestinians and has called
on the United Nations to disband it.
Israeli
officials have long charged that Arab nations “want the Palestinian refugee
problem to remain unresolved so that there’s a constant reminder of the
Palestinian tragedy,” said Ahron Bregman, a senior teaching fellow at King’s
College London who specializes in the Arab-Israeli conflict. “UNRWA, as the
Israelis see it, is a tool to keep the Palestinian refugee problem unresolved.”
But some
experts say that despite the hostile public remarks, Israel, which occupied
Gaza from 1967 to 2005, has needed the agency to provide stability there.
“Behind the scenes, Israel has often favored UNRWA’s work,” said Anne Irfan, an
expert on Palestinian refugee rights at University College London.
Why was
UNRWA set up?
UNRWA was
established in 1949 to assist about 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were
expelled from Israel during the wars surrounding its creation and were
prohibited by Israel from returning.
Many
settled in refugee camps that the agency helped to create, which have since
become built-up, mostly impoverished urban areas.
Palestinians
are the only refugee group whose support is not handled under the global
mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
UNRWA is
funded almost entirely by voluntary donations by U.N. member states, with the
United States and European Union countries providing most of the financing.
The
agency, which has said it was short of funds even before the current war began,
has appealed for a major infusion of money to handle the additional need.
What has
UNRWA’s role been during this war?
Since
Israel began its bombing campaign and ground invasion in retaliation for the
Oct. 7 attack, UNRWA has taken primary responsibility for trying to shelter
Gaza residents displaced from their homes — now nearly 90% of the population.
The agency
has converted its schools, clinics, and offices into emergency shelters that
have become badly overcrowded, and has also set up sprawling tent camps. It has
also been heavily involved in distributing deliveries of badly needed food,
water, and medicine.
It has
also shared the suffering of people in Gaza, where the health ministry says
more than 25,000 people have been killed in the war. The agency says that 152
of its employees are among the dead and that 141 of its facilities have been
damaged or destroyed.
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