Board of Peace met with UNRWA despite saying it has no Gaza role, agency’s ex-chief says

By AP and ToI Staff 25 September 2026, 9:53 am

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Palestinian children sit in their classroom on the first day of the new academic year at a UN-run school in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, September 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Philippe Lazzarini, former head of UNRWA, says that behind the scenes, members of the US-led Board of Peace, seeking to demilitarize the Gaza Strip, are open to working with the UN agency for Palestinians.

Lazzarini tells The Associated Press that members of the Palestinian technocratic committee backed by the Board want to work with the agency.

Another UN official shares minutes from meetings where UNRWA and the committee discussed collaborating on plans for Gaza.

A Board of Peace official confirms that members have met multiple times with UNRWA officials. The official says that the agency’s “days are over,” but its programs “may persist if they are serving Gazans well.”

Israel has long accused UNRWA of fomenting anti-Israel sentiment in its schools, and in the aftermath of the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, also accused it of collaborating with the terror group, which was the Strip’s de facto government at the time.

In late 2024, Israel passed legislation banning UNRWA from Israeli territory, including East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after the Six Day War of June 1967.