UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians who fled or were expelled during the Nakba, the 1948 Palestine war, and subsequent conflicts, as well as their descendants, including legally adopted children. As of 2019, more than 5.6 million Palestinians are registered with UNRWA as refugees.
UNRWA was established in 1949 by the UN General Assembly to provide relief to all refugees resulting from the 1948 conflict; this initially included Jewish and Arab Palestine refugees inside the State of Israel until the Israeli government took over this responsibility in 1952. As a subsidiary body of the UNGA, UNRWA's mandate is subject to periodic renewal every three years; it has consistently been extended since its founding, most recently until 30 June 2026.
UNRWA employs over 30,000 people, most of them Palestinian refugees, and a small number of international staff. Originally intended to provide employment and direct relief, its mandate has broadened to include providing education, health care, and social services to its target population. UNRWA operates in five areas: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. Aid for Palestinian refugees outside these five areas is provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, established in 1950 as the main agency to aid all other refugees worldwide. UNRWA is the only UN agency dedicated to helping refugees from a specific region or conflict.
UNRWA has received praise and recognition for its work by various governments, public figures, and independent monitors. It has also been subject to controversy related to its operations, role in the Gaza Strip, relationship with Hamas and terrorism, and textbook content. Most recently, the agency faced allegations by the Israeli government that twelve of its employees were involved in the October 7 attacks, leading to lay-offs, an investigation, and the temporary suspension of funding by numerous donors. As of May 2024, several major donors have since resumed funding as the investigation remains ongoing. In October 2024, Israel's parliament passed a bill designating UNRWA as a terrorist group and prohibiting it from operating within the country. Israel has long opposed the Palestinian right of return and has accused UNRWA of "perpetuating the refugee issue". In January 2025, Israel's UNRWA ban went into effect.
In October 2025, the International Court of Justice found that "Israel has not substantiated its allegations that a significant part of UNRWA’s employees are ‘members of Hamas… or other terrorist factions”.
History and operations
Following the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight of Palestinian Arabs, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 212, dated 19 November 1948, which established the UN Relief for Palestine Refugees to provide emergency relief to Palestine refugees in coordination with other UN or humanitarian agencies. In response to the political aspects of the conflict, less than a month later the General Assembly adopted Resolution 194, creating the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, mandated to help achieve a final settlement between the warring parties, including facilitating "the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees" in collaboration with the UNRPR. By that time, the conflict had displaced over 700,000 people.Unable to resolve the "Palestine problem" which required political solutions beyond the scope of its mandate, the UNCCP recommended the creation of a "United Nations agency designed to continue relief activities and initiate job-creation projects" while an ultimate resolution was pending. Pursuant to this recommendation and to paragraph 11 of Resolution 194 which concerned refugees, on 8 December 1949 the General Assembly adopted Resolution 302 which established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The resolution was adopted and passed unopposed, supported by Israel and the Arab states with only the Soviet bloc and South Africa abstaining.
UNRWA succeeded the UNRPR with a broader mandate for humanitarian assistance and development and the requirement to function neutrally. When it began operations in 1950 the initial scope of its work was "direct relief and works programmes" to Palestine refugees in order to "prevent conditions of starvation and distress… and to further conditions of peace and stability". UNRWA's mandate was expanded in December 1950 through Resolution 393 which instructed the agency to "establish a reintegration fund which shall be utilized... for the permanent re-establishment of refugees and their removal from relief". A 26 January 1952 resolution allocated four times as much funding on reintegration than on relief, requesting UNRWA to otherwise continue providing programs for health care, education, and general welfare.
Definition of refugee
UNRWA has developed its own working definition of "refugee" to allow it to provide humanitarian assistance. Its definition does not cover final status.Palestine refugees are "persons whose regular place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict."
The Six-Day War of 1967 generated a new wave of Palestinian refugees who could not be included in the original UNRWA definition. Since 1991, the UN General Assembly has adopted an annual resolution allowing the 1967 refugees within the UNRWA mandate. UNRWA's "mandate" is not a single document but the sum of all relevant resolutions and requests of the General Assembly. While focused on Palestine refugees, it also extends to persons displaced by "the 1967 and subsequent hostilities" and occasionally to a broader cross-section of the local community. Several categories of persons have long been registered as eligible to receive UNRWA services although not "Palestine refugees". The descendants of Palestine refugee males, including adopted children, are also eligible for registration as refugees.
Organisation and mandate
UNRWA is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations General Assembly, established pursuant to Articles 7 and 22 of the UN Charter. It is one of two UN agencies that reports directly to the General Assembly. The scope and renewal of UNRWA's mandate is determined primarily by resolutions of the General Assembly; unlike other UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization or the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, it lacks a constitution or statute. The mandate may also be shaped by requests from other UN organs, such as the Secretary-General. The General Assembly passes a series of resolutions annually that address UNRWA's responsibilities, functions, and budget. As it is technically a temporary organisation, the agency's mandate is extended every three years.UNRWA is led by a Commissioner-General—since 8 March 2020, Philippe Lazzarini of Switzerland—an Under-Secretary-General of the UN responsible for managing all of the agency's activities and personnel. The Commissioner-General selects and appoints all the agency's staff, pursuant to internal rules and regulations, and reports directly to the General Assembly. UNRWA's operations are organised into five fields—Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, West Bank, and Gaza—each led by a director who is in charge of distributing humanitarian aid and overseeing general UNRWA operations. The agency's headquarters are divided between the Gaza Strip and Amman, with the latter hosting the Deputy Commissioner-General, currently Leni Stenseth of Norway, who administers departmental activities such as education, healthcare, and finance. UNRWA is the largest agency of the United Nations, employing over 30,000 staff, 99% of which are locally recruited Palestinians.
Advisory Commission
Concurrent with the creation of UNRWA, the UN General Assembly established an Advisory Commission to assist the Commissioner-General in carrying out UNRWA's mandate. Created with four members, the AdCom currently has 28 members and four observers. Membership is obtained via General Assembly resolutions, with all host countries of Palestinian refugees sitting on the commission followed by the 24 leading donors and supporters of UNRWA. Palestine, the European Union, and the League of Arab States have had observer status since 2005, with the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation joining as an observer in 2019.Members of the AdCom, including the year they joined, are: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Advisory Commission is led by a chair and a vice-chair, representing a host country and a donor country, respectively. Each is appointed annually in June from among the Commission members according to the alphabetical rotation, serving for one year beginning 1 July. At each appointment, the chair will alternate between a host and a donor country.
The AdCom meets twice a year, usually in June and November, to discuss important issues of UNRWA and develop a consensus-based guidance for the Commissioner-General. Additionally, members and observers convene more regularly through sub-committee meetings. The AdCom also conducts periodic field visits to UNRWA's area of operations.
Areas of operation
UNRWA services are available to all registered Palestine refugees living in its area of operations who need assistance. When UNRWA began operations in 1950, it was responding to the needs of about 700,000 Palestinian refugees. By 2023, some 5.9 million people were registered as eligible for UNRWA services. UNRWA provides facilities in 59 recognized refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, and in other areas where large numbers of registered Palestine refugees live outside of recognized camps.For a camp to be recognized by UNRWA, there must be an agreement between the host government and UNRWA governing the use of the camp. UNRWA does not itself run camps, has no police powers or administrative role, but simply provides services in the camp. Refugee camps, which developed from tent cities to dense urban dwellings similar to their urban surroundings, house around one-third of all registered Palestine refugees.