United Nations' Refugee Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA)

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is United Nations' refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA)?
• News Summary: United Nations' refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA)
• What has Israel accused UNRWA of?
• How has UNRWA responded?
• What happens now?

Why in news?

• An Israeli strike on an UNRWA school-turned-shelter has killed at least 18 people and injured over a dozen others in Nuseirat, Gaza.
• UN officials have urged countries to reconsider their decision to suspend the funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
• Recently, Israel accused some of the agency’s staff members of involvement in the October 7 attack.
• After this, the US and eight other Western countries, which together provided more than half of UNRWA’s 2022 budget, cut the money.

What is United Nations' Refugee Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA)?

• It is a subsidiary agency created by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1949.
• Objective: To provide relief, health, and education services for Palestinians who lost both their homes and their means of livelihood during the Arab-Israeli wars following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
• Headquarters:
  • Beginning operations in 1950, UNRWA was originally headquartered in Beirut but was moved to Vienna in 1978. 
  • Following the conclusion of the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s, the General Assembly moved the agency to the Gaza Strip in 1996 to demonstrate the General Assembly’s commitment to the Arab-Israeli peace process. 
  • In the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until 30 June 2026.
  • Services: The agency’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict
  • Fields of operations: It provides services in its five fields of operations: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank,including the East of Jerusalem.
  • It supports more than five million registered Palestinian refugees, and their patrilineal descendants, who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine war, as well as those who fled or were expelled during and following the 1967 Six Day war.
• Funding:
  • It is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN Member States.
  • UNRWA also receives some funding from the Regular Budget of the UN, which is used mostly for international staffing costs.
  • Its chief officer, the commissioner-general—the only leader of a UN agency to report directly to the General Assembly—is appointed by the UN secretary-general with the approval of an Advisory Commission

News Summary: United Nations' Refugee Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA)

• Recently, United Nations (UN) officials urged countries to reconsider their decision to pause funding for the UN agency for Palestinians.
• It also said that any staff found involved in Hamas' attack on Israel would be punished and warned that aid for some two million people in Gaza was at stake.

What has Israel accused UNRWA of?

• Israel has alleged that 12 staff members of UNRWA were involved in the October 7 attack. 
• It has also claimed that Hamas siphons off funds given to UNRWA and fights from in and around the agency’s facilities.
• Israel has alleged that Hamas tunnels are running next to or under UNRWA facilities and accuses the agency of teaching hatred of Israel in its schools.

How has UNRWA responded?

• The UNRWA has denied all the allegations, saying it has no links to Hamas. 
• In the statement, UN officials said out of 12 staff members who were accused of being involved in the attack, nine have been terminated. 
• One is confirmed dead and the identity of the two others is being clarified.

What happens now?

• UNRWA is crucial for the survival of people living in Gaza, which has plunged into a humanitarian crisis after the outbreak of the conflict. 
• The agency has been the main supplier of food, water and shelter to civilians of the enclave. 
• UNRWA, however, would run out of money needed for its aid work within weeks if the funding is not restored.

Q1) What is What is Gaza strip?

The Gaza Strip is a 140 square mile narrow strip of land in the southwest corner of Israel. It's located along the Mediterranean Sea and shares a border with Egypt to the south. The Gaza Strip is one of two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank.

Q2) What is the United Nations (UN)?

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that was established in 1945 by 51 countries. The UN's mission is to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, and promote social progress, better living standards, and human rights.

Source: What is UNRWA, and why have Western countries paused its funding amid Gaza war? | UN