UNRWA chief: Agency should have role in rebuilding Gaza

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is calling for his agency to have a central role in the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip, as Israel increasingly attempts to sideline the organization, accusing it of ties to terror and incitement against Israel.

“UNRWA, with its thousands of Palestinian personnel, has the capacity, expertise and community trust required to provide healthcare, education and other public services to a devastated population,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini writes in The Guardian.

“For decades, the agency’s teachers, doctors and engineers have formed a vital part of a functioning system of public services for millions of Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the region,” he writes.

“In its advisory opinion last month, the International Court of Justice reaffirmed the professionalism of UNRWA’s staff, underlined the agency’s indispensable humanitarian role and concluded that UNRWA remains an impartial and neutral actor.”

Israel has previously alleged that more than 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions, and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.

In February 2024, the IDF revealed the existence of a subterranean Hamas data center directly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza Strip headquarters. The IDF has also repeatedly targeted Hamas command centers and gunmen hiding out in UNRWA schools.

In October 2024, lawmakers passed legislation barring UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory and curtailing its activities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by banning state authorities from having any contact with the agency.

Yesterday, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill that would prohibit the provision of electricity or water to facilities owned by or operated on behalf of UNRWA. It will need to pass plenary votes before becoming law.