UN General Assembly extends UNRWA mandate for three more years despite Israeli, US opposition

The United Nations General Assembly voted on Friday to extend the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for an additional three years. The few countries that opposed the renewal included Israel, the United States, Hungary, Argentina, Paraguay, Fiji, Tonga, and North Macedonia. An additional 14 countries abstained in the vote.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated he "saluted the overwhelming vote," claiming that it "reflects the broad solidarity of people across the world with Palestine Refugees. It is also an acknowledgement of the international community’s responsibility to support the humanitarian and human development needs of Palestine Refugees pending a just and lasting solution to their decades-long plight.” 

"The vote needs now to be translated into a genuine commitment and matching resources to ensure the mandate is fulfilled," Lazzarini argued.

UNRWA was established in 1949 following the first Arab-initiated war with the Jewish state. UNRWA claims on its website that it "helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance."

However, critics have long argued that UNRWA perpetuates the conflict by uniquely passing on the refugee status from one generation to the next. Most Gazans are currently listed as “refugees” despite the fact that the large majority of them were born in Gaza. Furthermore, UNRWA textbooks have promoted hatred against Jews, Israel and advocated violent Jihad against the State of Israel. 

The Jewish state has also documented UNRWA’s strong ties with the terrorist organization Hamas and its involvement in the Oct. 7 massacre in 2023. 

In January 2024, the U.S. and other major donor nations temporarily suspended financial aid to UNRWA after Israel provided incriminating evidence that UNRWA employees participated in the massacre and kidnappings of largely Israeli civilians. 

"There must be complete accountability for anyone who participated in the heinous attacks," U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated at the time. 

International aid to UNRWA resumed after a panel report in April 2024 whitewashed the UNRWA scandal and claimed that Israel had failed to provide sufficient evidence of ties between Hamas and UNRWA employees. 

However, Israel did provide documentation of the Hamas-UNRWA ties, which was largely ignored. In October 2024, the Israeli parliament voted to ban UNRWA’s activities in Gaza, Judea and Samaria (Internationally known as the West Bank) due to its terrorist ties despite international protests. 

Dual British-Israeli national Emily Damari revealed in February that she had been held in a UNRWA facility in Gaza and was denied medication during her captivity.

“Hamas held Emily in UNRWA facilities and denied her access to medical treatment after shooting her twice. It’s a miracle that she survived, and we need to get aid to remaining hostages now,” Emily’s mother Many Damari wrote on 𝕏. 

Israeli intelligence has estimated that at least 10% of UNRWA’s employees are members of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. The former Biden administration criticized Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA. However, in January, the Trump administration reversed Washington’s policy by publicly supporting Israel’s ban on UNRWA, 

“It is Israel’s sovereign decision to close UNRWA’s offices in Jerusalem on January 30. The United States supports the implementation of this decision,” U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Camille Shea stated during a UN meeting in New York. 

“We are concerned about reports that returned Israeli hostages were held by Hamas in UN facilities during their prolonged captivity in Gaza. It is vital for a full and independent investigation to assess these very serious allegations,” Shea said. 

It is currently unclear what the extension of UNRWA’s mandate will mean in practice. In October, Israel rejected an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling demand the return of UNRWA to Gaza. 

“Israel categorically rejects the ICJ’s ‘advisory opinion,’ which was entirely predictable from the outset regarding UNRWA,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said at the time. 

“Israel provided the UN with extensive evidence proving Hamas’s infiltration into UNRWA, but the UN has never investigated the full extent of that infiltration. To this day, UNRWA still employs more than 1,400 Hamas operatives,” the foreign ministry in Jerusalem emphasized.