UNWRA and Israel: How A Humanitarian Aid Organization Only Aided Conflict in the Middle East

By Ilan Lennon

How is an internationally endorsed agency whose charter professes values of “peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity” complicit in terror activities? This contradiction reveals the concerning nature of UNRWA’s operations in the region. While the agency claims to provide essential care and services to millions of Palestinian refugees, its presence in conflict zones and interactions with extremist groups and terrorist organizations raise serious concerns about its impartiality and potential complicity in stimulating and nurturing a hostile environment. In this article, we will examine the evidence behind these accusations, UNRWA's responses, and the broader context of UNRWA's role in the ongoing conflict with Israel.

Following the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, the United Nations established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, on December 8, 1949. UNRWA’s purpose is to serve Palestinian refugees in need. As of 1952, the term Palestinian Refugees refers to anyone who lived in The British Mandate of Palestine from June 1, 1946 until the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on May 15, 1948 and their descendants. Since UNRWA began operations on May 1, 1950, they have been providing Palestinian refugees with humanitarian support, protection, basic education, mental and physical health care, relief, microcredit, social services, and emergency assistance. UNRWA operates in areas such as the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

Currently, there are 5.9 Million registered Palestinian refugees, the largest singular group of refugees in the world. UNRWA has pledged to support each and every registered refugee with education that comes in the form of 706 schools, with a total of 543,075 students. They also support the health and wellness of the Palestinians with 140 primary health facilities, taking in an average of over 7 million annual patient visits. In addition to this, UNRWA provides relief and social services to 113 community centers of which there are 255,579 beneficiaries. They also assist the underprivileged refugees financially, having given over an equivalent of 531.4 million USD in the form of 475,905 loans. UNRWA does this all while maintaining a total of 58 refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

Until the Six Day War in 1967, Israel and UNRWA had little to do with each other. But everything changed when Israel began gaining territory that was once occupied by Palestinians, leaving them to care for the nearly one million Palestinian refugees, many of which fled their homes to the Jordanian-controlled West Bank, and Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip. This mass “exodus” of Palestinians eventually led to many of them becoming refugees in the hands of UNRWA. 

Recently, however, as tensions have been rising due to Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel, allegations on both sides have been made, leaving the world in question of what truly is happening. Israel has claimed that UNRWA is guilty of educational bias, as there is an abundance of evidence that they are glorifying terrorists and promoting a hatred of Israel, to which UNRWA has replied that they have, “Zero tolerance for hate speech, discrimination, or incitement to violence as well as any action that could be viewed as taking sides in conflict.” Conversely, UNRWA has claimed that Israel has been targeting their facilities; however, Israel has good reason to do this as there is evidence proving that UNRWA is supporting Hamas by allowing them to take over their headquarters, dig tunnels beneath their headquarters, and provide data connections to Hamas. There is even proof that UNRWA has been supplying Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar with aid in his hideout. In addition, Israel has found rocket launchers, ammunition, guns and tunnels in UNRWA run schools, supporting the theory that UNRWA is complicit in allowing Hamas to use civilian human shields to protect themselves. There have also been findings of UN and UNRWA hiding equipment and accompanying weapons used by Hamas; this includes UNRWA bags full of concrete that were used to restrain Israeli hostages taken captive by Hamas. Perhaps the most disturbing allegation is the fact that at least 12 UNRWA employees were active in Hamas’ October 7th attack against Israel, and it is estimated that another 1,200 UNRWA employees have ties with extremist groups in the region such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. In response to the allegations, the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OSIS), has launched an investigation into the situation. 

UNRWA’s position in the region only complicates the already tense situation, adding to the heated affairs and the grievances of the refugees by reminding them of their situation and advocating and promoting the idea of the right of return—a philosophy fabricated with the logic that the Palestinian peoples are the indigenous peoples of the region and were forcefully evicted from their homes, when in fact this has no basis. The earliest people to have lived and ruled in the Land of Israel were the Israelites or Hebrews, now known as the Jews. The Palestinians who fled their homes were not expelled with malice by the Israelis in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, but were forced to relocate due to the war that had led to the Israelis to gain territory and a state. In 1967, the Palestinians in the newly conquered Israeli territories were not expelled, but rather fled on their own; or, if they were in Jerusalem, were told by the Jordanian forces to leave until they had defeated Israel—which they never did. 

The relationship between UNRWA and Israel remains fraught with tension. While UNRWA's alleged intentions may seem righteous, their presence in the region only further deteriorates the situation. The claims and allegations that were made against UNRWA are backed up by what seems like fool-proof evidence to their truth, yet the UN and the world seem to have blinded themselves from this. It is our job as advocates for democracy, justice and authenticity to enlighten the world and spread the truth about what is actually happening. UNRWA has had its time; their share of mistakes and shady activity is too much to bear. As Israel’s foreign ministry put it: “If more than 2,135 UNRWA employees are members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and 1/5 of the principals of UNRWA schools are Hamas activists, the problem with UNRWA-Gaza is not a problem of a few bad apples,” and that the “institution as a whole is a haven for Hamas’ radical ideology.” A new system of humanitarian aid must be put into place in the Middle East, one that is unbiased and doesn’t affiliate with extremist groups and terrorist organizations.