What Is UNRWA? And Why Is Israel So Intent On Destroying It?
Since Oct. 7, Israel has repeatedly targeted UNRWA’s facilities in Gaza, [killing at least 237 UNRWA workers, the most UN workers killed in the entire history of the organization.
On Oct. 28, Israel's parliament passed two bills banning UNRWA from “conducting any activity” within Israel and its occupied territories and labeling it a terrorist organization.
But this is actually not the first time Israel has tried to cripple the UNRWA .
Since Oct. 7, Israel has repeatedly targeted UNRWA’s facilities in Gaza, killing at least 237 UNRWA workers, the most UN workers killed in the entire history of the organization.
And in February, after the International Court of Justice found that there was a plausible case of Israel committing genocide in Gaza, Israel accused 12 UNRWA workers in Gaza of working for Hamas.
Even before accusing UNRWA workers of working for Hamas, Israeli lawmakers were filmed saying in a meeting in January that it had to destroy the UNRWA in order to win the war.
But what is UNRWA and why is Israel so intent on destroying it?
UNRWA stands for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
It is the main humanitarian agency in Gaza and the only one that has been allowed in to deliver aid since Israel began its genocide in Gaza that has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians.
UNRWA was created in 1949 by the UN General Assembly after the Nakba in 1948, when Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their lands.
Its purpose is to ensure Palestinian refugees have a right to return to their land after they were forcibly expelled between 1948 and 1967.
Under the UN's mandate, UNRWA is a temporary agency and will continue to be renewed every three years until a just and lasting solution for Palestinian refugees is achieved.
Since its creation, the organization has been providing education, healthcare, social services and humanitarian aid to approximately 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees living in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
UNRWA and its services are essential to Palestinians, particularly those in Gaza, who are facing starvation and Israel's ongoing genocide.
However, for Palestinians, UNRWA is much more than just an aid agency, but a symbol of their “right to return” to their land.
Its existence is a constant reminder of Palestinian refugees' rights.
But Israel says that UNRWA is an “obstacle” to resolving the Israel and Palestine issue.
This is because Israel does not want Palestinians to be considered refugees.
If Palestinians are considered refugees, they would be able to claim some rights to the Palestinian land that Israel is currently occupying and wants to seize, according to the Intercept.
As such, analysts say that Israel hopes that by dismantling UNRWA, Palestinian rights to their land will also disappear with it.
Only two days after the bills to ban the UNRWA were approved, Israel demolished the UNRWA office in the occupied West Bank, which used to deliver services to more than 14,000 Palestinians, with bulldozers.
Also Read
Isha Jain
Kassy Cho
