The ban of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) could severely impact humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip and lead to a collapse of health care and education systems in the West Bank, a newly published report warned Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reports.
With a 28 January implementation deadline approaching, the potential disruption threatens essential services for millions of Palestinian refugees relying on UNRWA for education, health care and food assistance, according to the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
“UNRWA provides a lifeline to some of the most vulnerable communities in the region,” said Jorgen Jensehaugen, a senior PRIO researcher and co-author of the study.
He warned that the Agency’s collapse would cripple humanitarian operations in Gaza and destabilise healthcare and education for thousands in the West Bank.
Replacing UNRWA’s mechanisms would involve “significant costs and delays”, the report noted, with humanitarian experts estimating that it could take one to three years. It also warned that education programs might be replaced by fragmented, lower-quality initiatives run by multiple agencies.
READ: UN envoy to UN nominee voted to defund UNRWA
“The clock is ticking, and without coordinated global action, the repercussions will be serious, most acutely affecting Gaza, but also having the potential to push the situation in the West Bank across the brink,” Jensehaugen cautioned.
Vote to ban UNRWA
In October, Israel’s Knesset (parliament) voted to ban UNRWA’s operations in areas under Israeli Occupation, alleging that some UN agency employees were involved in the Hamas attack on 7 October, —a charge UNRWA denies.
If implemented, the ban would result in the closure of UNRWA offices and the freezing of its financial accounts in Israel, effectively halting its operations.
Established in 1949, UNRWA has served as a critical lifeline for Palestinian refugees, supporting nearly 5.9 million people across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Israel has repeatedly equated UNRWA staff with Hamas members in efforts to discredit them, providing no proof of the claims, while lobbying hard to have UNRWA closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees. If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.
Gaza ceasefire and its aftermath
The first phase of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza began on 19 January, suspending Israel’s genocidal war that has killed nearly 47,200 Palestinians—mostly women and children—and injured over 111,160 since 7 October, 2023.
The three-phase agreement includes prisoner exchanges and aims for a permanent truce and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel’s war on Gaza has left the besieged enclave in ruins, with half of its housing damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced amid severe shortages of sanitation, medical supplies, food and clean water.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
READ: Aid trucks prepare to enter war-torn Gaza as ceasefire begins