Press Releases

BADIL Resource Center and the Global Palestinian Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons’ Network (GPRN) called on States and Special Procedures to take practical steps to ensure the continued operations and existence of UNRWA in the occupied Palestinian territory, especially in the Gaza Strip, as an obligation to prevent and stop Israel’s genocide.

At the height of Israel’s genocide on the Gaza Strip and its deliberate targeting of refugee camps in the West Bank, and despite the recent UN Independent Review of UNRWA’s Neutrality, Israel continues to escalate its campaign against UNRWA.

By aiding in Israel’s campaign to dismantle and replace UNRWA, which has been a lifeline to Palestinians in Gaza amidst the ongoing genocide, States are complicit in Israel’s genocidal actions.

All States have an obligation to stop Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, adhere to the provisional measures of the ICJ and fulfill their obligations to Palestinian refugees, and this includes providing their full political and financial support to UNRWA to ensure its continued existence and full operations in all its areas of operation, especially in the Gaza Strip.

BADIL and the GPRN specifically called on States and Special Procedures to use the ongoing HRC and UNGA sessions to send a strong message of support to the mandate and financing of UNRWA, by:

• Effectively countering Israel’s plans to oust UNRWA from the occupied Palestinian territory and dismantle it, aiming to liquidate the Palestinian refugee issue, through the imposition of sanctions and other measures;
• Re-affirming that UNRWA is the most capable and only UN-mandated agency for delivering aid and services to Palestinian refugees;
• Countering any attempts to transfer UNRWA’s mandate to other international and local organizations, such as encouraging the supply of aid to Gaza through organizations other than UNRWA and the entry of international organizations into the camps to implement projects and activities that fall within UNRWA’s mandate or must be implemented under its direct supervision;
• Strongly condemning Israel’s bills to delegitimize and criminalize UNRWA by classifying it as a terrorist organization, as well as measures taken by Israel to prevent UNRWA from performing its mandate, such as denying the entry of aid and medicine into Gaza if they bear the UNRWA logo or if UNRWA assumes responsibility for distributing them, orders to close UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem, and the deliberate targeting of UNRWA convoys and facilities, especially schools and shelters for internally displaced Palestinians.
• Emphasizing the exclusive jurisdiction of the UN General Assembly to supervise UNRWA and amend its mandate, and rejecting the recommendations of the Review Committee calling for the inclusion of Israel in the UNRWA Policy Determination Committee, or calling for the creation of an external body other than the General Assembly to assume responsibility for directing and/or supervising UNRWA.
• Recognizing and highlighting the strategic risks to UNRWA’s neutrality and existence embedded in the recommendations of the United Nations Committee to Review UNRWA's Neutrality.
• Establishing, through the UNGA, a special UN fund for UNRWA, to which the contributions of states would be mandatory to cover UNRWA’s basic programs, and voluntary to cover projects and needs in emergency circumstances.

Protecting Palestinian refugees means protecting UNRWA, and this is particularly crucial in the midst of Israel’s ongoing genocide and its campaign to oust and replace UNRWA in the oPt. In the words of the joint statement issued by several mandate holders on the commemoration of World Refugee Day:

“As the largest and most protracted displaced population since World War II, the Palestinian experience should serve as a poignant reminder to the international community of the suffering and vulnerability endured by refugees and internally displaced persons, urging immediate action to recognise and uphold their rights.”

In other words, at its core, UNRWA, its mandate and services are the right of Palestinian refugees until their return.