Moment Debate
Should UNRWA be shut down?
Should the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees be shut down? No. At least, not yet. We have a tremendous humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and only UNRWA has the capacity and the wherewithal to implement an effective response, not just today but probably for a year or more. UNRWA has the physical infrastructure, the transport infrastructure, the personnel, and it’s essential that it be used to the fullest extent given the current crisis.
Has October 7 irreparably damaged UNRWA’s credibility? Even back when I was USAID mission director in the Palestinian territories in 1999-2004, there were allegations about UNRWA personnel being involved with Hamas, about Hamas using its facilities, about the messaging that goes on in UNRWA schools, but also more general concerns that it’s a unique agency within the UN system dealing with just one population, the Palestinians, seemingly only to perpetuate and expand the refugee issue. October 7 has highlighted some of these concerns with Israel’s specific allegations that staff members were involved in acts of terrorism. At least on the surface, UNRWA responded quickly by dismissing those staff and agreeing to investigate additional names. It’ll be more difficult to evaluate agency staff who have, let’s say, a relative working for Hamas or who interact with Hamas officials. Drawing lines is difficult, given that there has to be some involvement with Hamas to get anything done in Gaza.
Has UNRWA always been controversial? In the 30 years since Oslo, it’s been subject to a sort of gentlemen’s agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Israel has issues with UNRWA’s existence, yet military folks appreciated the services UNRWA provided because it took the burden off them and the PA. Until recently, Israel engaged directly with UNRWA. All materials going to Gaza, including UNRWA materials, go through IDF checkpoints and security reviews. UNRWA doesn’t have its own intelligence agency, so its 13,000 employees in Gaza have all gone through Israeli vetting. Israel has now presented 400 or 450 names for investigation—out of 13,000, that’s still less than 3 percent. They’re not asserting it’s an entirely Hamas organization. And certainly, many who support UNRWA’s operations acknowledge that several proposed reforms warrant consideration.
Which of its functions, if any, are essential? Primary health care, mother-child health care and vaccines are all delivered through UNRWA clinics. If the schools aren’t restarted, what will they do with the kids? Also, going to school provides a meal, and today not only the kids but their parents and grandparents need food, as well as shelter.
I’d envision a West Bank and Gaza, not now but in a foreseeable future, where the schools and medical clinics are run by either the PA or some successor institution if the PA is viewed as too tainted. Private organizations could take over some medical clinics in Gaza, just as there are private hospitals now in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
What services are still needed for Palestinians outside Gaza? In Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, UNRWA is responsible for Palestinians who were refugees in 1948 and their descendants. Those functions can and should be taken over by other agencies or the host government.
One essential step is to limit the number of people on UNRWA’s rolls by categorizing them in a way that’s more consistent with refugees elsewhere. Those who are citizens of the country where they reside shouldn’t qualify for refugee status. In Lebanon and Syria, they were not granted citizenship and are limited professionally—so what is the plan for them? That needs to be part of the discussion.
“It’s essential that it be used to the fullest extent given the current crisis. LARRY GARBER
What should happen next? The funding cutoff by the United States will be permanent. It would be hard even for a new Democratic administration in 2025 to revive it. That debate has been lost, and not only because of the war. UNRWA is a product of the UN General Assembly, so if there were a critical mass to dissolve or cut its budget, it would happen. But the United States is probably telling our allies quietly that we don’t see that as practical, and those allies may think, “The U.S. with its broken political system can’t be seen funding UNRWA but has basically given us the green light to do so.”
But October 7 has prompted a lot of folks in Israel/Palestine to rethink certain premises. In the 30 years since Oslo, negotiators assumed that, as with Palestinian statehood, the issue of dissolving UNRWA would come at the end, after final agreement on borders and the like. Maybe that was a mistake. Just as we’re now realizing that Palestinian statehood needs to be endorsed up front by the United States and other major Western countries, it needs to be clearer that UNRWA’s disappearance is a goal of negotiations.