UNRWA is the largest aid organization in Gaza

The United Nations Refugee Agency in the Gaza Strip: What is it, and what does it take to make the United States a better place?

Millions of people are without food, water, or access to medical care as fighting escalates in the Gaza Strip.

She said that Israel is very critical of UNRWA. But behind the scenes, “they see it as preferable to the alternative. The services of the UNRWA would otherwise be under the control of Israel.

The U.N. group is the “last remaining lifeline for the Palestinian people in Gaza,” according to Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner. But he has also said it’s perched “on the verge of collapse,” struggling to carry out operations as Israel’s total siege over the territory continues to sap resources.

UNRWA’s funding was mostly devoted to the education of half a million children before the conflict began.

According to the agency’s website, more than 5.9 million people are currently registered under that criteria, including roughly two-thirds of the estimated 2.3 million people living in Gaza.

As of last month, the agency said it employed more than 13,000 aid workers, including refugees themselves, in the Gaza Strip alone. There are more than 150 shelters that the workers operate and 80 mobile health teams that have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict.

The U.N’s mandate to provide services to refugees doesn’t guarantee much funding for the organization.

Voluntary contributions from U.N. member states make up the lion’s share of UNRWA’s funding. The agency received over $1 billion in pledges last year. With a contribution of $344 million, the U.S. was the largest individual donor in 2022, followed by Germany and other European countries.

Anne Irfan, a lecturer at University College London who studies the international refugee system, said that the incentive for funding UNRWA was to maintain a sense of stability in the region.

Historically, she told NPR, the primary concern was that Palestinian refugees might be vulnerable to communism. These days, some politicians have swapped the word “communist” for “terrorist,” the official U.S. designation for Hamas fighters. The rationale is still the same.

Under the Biden administration, the U.S. has resumed funding for UNRWA and other Palestinian aid groups, but has also seen that aid criticized by congressional Republicans, creating a permanent layer of uncertainty for UNRWA’s operations.

The Gaza Response of the United Rescue Action Agency (UNRWA) to the 2007 Gaza War and the Israel-Israeli War on Refugees

According to Israeli authorities, the Hamas-led militant group crossed from Gaza to southern Israel and killed over 1,000 people and took over about 250 hostages.

Israel has responded with a total siege, heavy bombardments and a ground offensive in Gaza that have left more than 11,000 Palestinians dead and many more displaced, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Following a deadly round of fighting in 2007, Israel implemented a strict land, air and sea blockade on Gaza, which not only limited the region’s economic prospects but has severely limited the inflow of basic goods like food and medicine over the last decade and a half.

Since the first aid trucks entered Gaza on Oct. 21, UNRWA says there have been an average 30 trucks a day going through the border crossing with Egypt.

The agency has placed a high priority on the lack of fuel, which it says is needed to power generators for everything from hospitals to water treatment plants.

In a more important sense, UNRWA supports the call for an “immediate humanitarian cease-fire,” as well as permanent cessation of violence to stop what it called the “horrific and unacceptable” killing of civilians.

UNRWA confirmed to NPR that one-third of the staff was killed south of the Wadi Gaza line. As attacks on northern Gaza got worse, Israeli leaders told civilians in Gaza to move to the south for safety.

Before the war broke out, the aid that UNRWA was delivering was ” really basic, essential stuff.” “It’s water rations or food provisions — stuff we would probably consider emergency relief.”

“Israel regards UNRWA as part of the problem,” said Ahron Bregman, an Arab-Israeli relations scholar with the King’s College in London. Hamas is free to fight if UNRWA support is given to Palestinian refugees.

Bregman told NPR over email that a common grievance among Israeli politicians is that UNRWA regards the children of Palestinian refugees as refugees themselves, which has increased the number of dependents treated by the agency over time.

They were men and women. The largest group of people were teachers. School principals, warehouse workers, engineers, a software developer, a gynecologist and a man in charge of safety were among others. The communications director for UNRWA, the agency that cares for Palestinian refugees and their descendants across the Middle East, said that he was killed along with his wife and eight children.