A Debilitated UNRWA will only Increase the Misery of the Palestinians

Highlights

• The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was set up in 1949 to ensure bare minimum livelihood facilities for the Palestinians who were evicted from Transjordan area, and settled in the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
• There are allegations of UNRWA personnel aiding Hamas’s terrorist activities.
• After the start of the latest HAMAS-Israel conflict on 7 October 2023, the UNRWA personnel have been struggling to maintain the medicare facilities and hospital operations as well as civil supplies, schools, etc, under extremely tenuous and dangerous conditions.
• At least 15 UN members—including the USA, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Australia—suddenly stopped providing financial aid to UNRWA and hence it is operating under severe resource crunch.
• Countries like India and those from the EY, should step in as even-handedly as possible and induce a political change in the stance of the major donor countries towards UNRWA and its activities in Gaza.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was set up in 1949 under UN General Assembly Resolution 302(IV), in the aftermath of widespread Arab-Israeli War of 1948 and huge displacement of the Palestinian population.

While the Jewish Diaspora, particularly in the Western countries, took care of the needs of a nascent Israel’, an organization like the UNRWA was needed under UN aegis for meeting the needs of the Palestinians. The setting up of the UNRWA was basically an international effort to ensure bare minimum livelihood facilities for the Palestinians who were evicted from the Transjordan area, and settled in the West Bank of the Jordan river and the narrow Gaza strip to the west of Israel, along the Mediterranean Sea.

After the start of the latest HAMAS-Israel conflict on 7 October 2023, the UNRWA operating under its commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, an Italian, and his team of 30,000 UNRWA personnel have been struggling to maintain the medicare facilities and hospital operations as well as civil supplies, schools, etc, under extremely tenuous and dangerous conditions precipitated by continuous aerial strafing and bombardment by the ground component of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). More than 70 UNRWA personnel have so far lost their lives from direct hits and collateral damage caused by the IDF operations.

It is important to note that UNRWA's funding, which it receives from contributions from UN member states, was insufficient to meet its needs. Following an Israeli government complaint to the UN last month, at least 15 UN members—including the US, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Australia—suddenly stopped providing financial aid.

The Israeli government had, in fact, submitted a six-page dossier alleging that 12 UNRWA staff members including nine who worked in the agency’s schools, had directly participated in the 7 October attack, and that some UNRWA employees were sympathizers of and involved in the ’7 October assault on the Israeli settlements and territory bordering Gaza.

UN secretary general Antonio Gutteres promptly responded to Israel’s complaint and assured a proper investigation in the matter, and also activated the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services. Furthermore, he appointed former West German foreign minister, Catherine Collona to investigate the complaint.

Even before the investigations, UNRWA has terminated the services of 12 of its contractual employees (two of them are already dead) who were prima facie implicated in the matter and suspected of having some responsibility directly or indirectly towards facilitating the 7 October assault.

A point to remember here is that the UNRWA employees are mostly Palestinians. It may be unreasonable, therefore, to expect that they would not have some underlying sympathy for the HAMAS and the Palestinian cause, the sufferings of the Palestinians and their extremely precarious existence in Gaza. However, it would be unrealistic to expect that they would be directly contributing to the HAMAS’’s war effort. knowing fully well the adverse consequences likely to befall them.

The position of UNRWA seems to have subsequently become more delicate and controversial with the IDF’’s claim on 12 February 2024 that they had discovered a subterranean tunnel below the Gaza headquarters of the UNRWA, serving as a nodal point for feeding power to all HAMAS tunnels in Gaza strip. The allegation has been compounded by IDF’’S further allegation that power from the underground power infrastructure of HAMAS was being generated by fuel provided through humanitarian aid channelized through UNRWA.

UNRWA’’s commissioner general Lazzarini has, however, responded by stating that UNRWA did not know what was beneath its headquarters complex. Though UNRWA may not be directly complicit in the operation of HAMAS’’s logistics, the fact of the matter is that this UN agency’’s position might have been subverted to an extent by HAMAS.

The UN secretary general and UNRWA’s commissioner general will have to suitably investigate and highlight the circumstances of these developments tarnishing the image of the UN agency, and also the measures which they would be putting in place to obviate such occurrences.

This would be quite a difficult task in the existing intense war situation and close combat urban conflict in Gaza. The permanent members of the UN Security Council have to work with some tacit understanding among themselves to help protect the UNRWA institution and its functionality in as impartial manner as possible.  

As has been noted earlier, quite a few major donor UN member states have temporarily suspended their financial contributions for UNRWA activities. The UNRWA, which was already finding it difficult to sustain its assistance to the more than two million Gazans because of its dwindling finances (its budget was approximately US $2 billion but funds obtained through member states’ contributions was only US $1.17 billion in 2022), in the backdrop of increasing damages and destruction resulting from escalating Israeli war effort there, will now inevitably have to reduce the level of its humanitarian activities.

This outcome would have been anticipated by Israel while leveling the allegations against UNRWA. Such an outcome serves Israel’s political and strategic interests which, as of now, seems to be that, the Gaza administration or whatever is left of it now, is unable to function on its own and is totally incapacitated and subservient to the dictates of the Israeli government, and the administrative machinery of the UNRWA is also not adequately functional to enable the Gazans to lead a sustainable civic life free from Israeli controls.

Be that as it may, the international community and the comity of nations should take a long-term view in the matter. While a cessation of hostilities in Gaza has to eventually come about, the welfare of the Palestinians, particularly of the Gazans, has necessarily to remain a matter of international concern. UNRWA is the main dependable UN relief agency in the Near East and the value or importance of its functions vis-à-vis the Palestinians – the most significant and internationally recognized de facto stateless people– cannot be understated.

The expertise available with UNRWA, has perforce to be utilized effectively from humanitarian support perspective. It may be most appropriate if the countries of the Global South including India, play their role to strengthen the UNRWA. Within the UN system, the position of UN secretary general also needs to be strengthened on management of the UNRWA for obtaining optimum outcome and keeping it free from controversies.  

The UNRWA mandate extends to the delivery of services to the Palestinian refugees scattered over the Gaza strip, West Bank of Jordan River (including East Jerusalem), Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. However, its activities are mostly concentrated in Gaza strip and the West Bank. It is, therefore, essential that Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestine National Authority led by its premier, Mahmoud Abbas, work with a common approach to strengthen this most important relief agency under UN auspices.

It is worth mentioning here that the mandate for UNRWA was renewed overwhelmingly by the UN General Assembly until 30 June 2026(with 157 member states voting in favour and only one against) in its 77th session in December 2022. It is, however, significant that in the same session, the US voted against a resolution enjoining on the UN members to enhance their contribution to the UNRWA’s programme budget.

Thus, it is evident that, the most prosperous UN member state, i.e. the US, is not inclined to augment the UNRWA’s finances, notwithstanding the lead humanitarian role being played by the UNRWA in the Near East – particularly in Gaza and the West Bank of the Jordan River. It, therefore, behooves countries like India and those from the European Union, to step in as even-handedly as possible and induce a political change in the stance of the major donor countries (i.e. the US and the EU particularly) towards UNRWA and its activities in Gaza. A debilitated UNRWA will only increase the misery of the Palestinians.

The author is a retired Civil Service officer who has held senior appointments in Government of India and State Governments. The views expressed are personal.