Briefing to the United Nations Security Council by UNRWA

UN Security Council in session.

Mr. President, Excellencies,

Thank you for giving UNRWA this opportunity to brief the Security Council at this pivotal time.

UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza, but it is facing enormous challenges.  Gaza is in ruins, [and] the threat of a larger regional war looms.  At the same time, the Agency is under unprecedent attack, including imminent threat of being expelled from occupied East Jerusalem and being designated a terrorist organization by the Israeli parliament.  Our operating space in the occupied Palestinian territory is shrinking by the day.

These developments demand the urgent attention – and action – of this Council.  

Mr. President,  

For nearly 10 months now, Palestinians and Israelis have lived through untold suffering, grief, sorrow, and loss.  More than 2 million people in Gaza remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale.  

Their lives are dominated by fear, thirst, hunger, disease, dehumanization, lack of basic sanitation, and repeated displacement.  It’s a relentless and often hourly struggle, day in and day out. Famine remains a risk, including in southern Gaza. Communicable diseases are on the rise.

Children are bearing the brunt, with 625,000 deeply traumatized children out of school. Prior to October 7th, half of them attended UNRWA schools. With this war coming so soon after the COVID-19 pandemic, we risk depriving an entire generation of girls and boys of formal education – sowing the seeds of hatred, resentment, and future conflict.  

Education cannot wait.  That is why, even amidst the enormous challenges of war, we are committed, together with our UN partners, to resume learning for all the children of Gaza.  It starts next week with providing mental health and psychosocial support; transitions to teaching reading, writing and math in informal settings; and culminates in a return to formal education in schools.

Members of the Council,  

The Security Council has already adopted several resolutions aimed at ending this war through a ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the scaling up of humanitarian aid.  UNRWA has thousands of staff on the ground, spearheading the humanitarian operation in close cooperation with other UN agencies.  We have welcomed the adoption of these resolutions in New York.  But in Gaza, we have seen woefully little impact.  Instead, the fighting continues without reprieve, and the suffering continues to mount.

As my colleague, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Muhannad Hadi, will describe in greater detail, delivering humanitarian aid remains an impossible task amidst military operations, insecurity, lawlessness, damaged and destroyed infrastructure, fuel shortages, and access and telecommunications restrictions.  

In Gaza, the blatant disregard for international humanitarian law is now commonplace. Women, children, journalists, humanitarian workers – all continue to pay a tragically high price.  UNRWA is no exception.  199 colleagues have now been killed, the vast majority with their families. Nearly two-thirds of the Agency’s premises – some 190 buildings – have been hit, some twice. Many of our schools are demolished and can no longer be used as schools.  In the past two weeks alone, 8 UNRWA schools, all serving as shelters for displaced people, have been struck.  Our headquarters offices in Gaza are destroyed beyond recognition.  More than 560 displaced people, including many women and children, have been killed while sheltering under the UN flag.  And just this week, two UN convoys heading north were shot at, despite coordination, deconfliction, and authorization from the Israeli Army.

Humanitarian workers must never be targets of war.  They must be protected at all times and in all locations.  But in Gaza, too often they have come under attack, been injured, and even killed.  We have said it many times before, and I repeat it again:  No place is safe in Gaza.  No one is safe, including humanitarian aid workers.

Members of the Council,

Concerted efforts to dismantle UNRWA continue unabated.  As I speak today, many UN staff, as well as staff of NGOs, have been refused visas to enter Israel.  The visa of the UNRWA Commissioner-General expired more than a month ago and has not yet been renewed.  And for UN staff who have been granted visas, most are only two or three months long, requiring repeated and lengthy bureaucratic processes.

Misinformation and disinformation about UNRWA is spreading on social media, at times crossing the line of incitement to violence. This puts all our colleagues at serious risk, especially in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Earlier this week, on July 22nd, Israel’s parliament approved in first reading three draft legislative bills related to UNRWA: one seeking to ban UNRWA operations in occupied East Jerusalem; a second seeking to revoke UN privileges and immunities afforded to UNRWA since 1949; and a third designating UNRWA a terrorist organization. To become law, these draft bills must still pass through second and third readings by the Knesset.

These bills make a travesty of the multilateral responsibilities of Member States.  They erode the very foundations of international law and multilateral norms.  If these bills pass – which could happen as early as next week – the ramifications will be dire and immediate:  They will put all UNRWA staff and the Agency’s General Assembly mandate in direct danger.  And while UNRWA will face the impacts today, make no mistake: the entire UN system around the world will feel the impacts tomorrow.  We cannot afford this to become a new standard for future humanitarian operations in conflict zones across the world.

Mr. President,  

The campaign against UNRWA is often framed by detractors as motivated by the Agency’s alleged failure to uphold the humanitarian principle of neutrality.  Following serious allegations that several UNRWA personnel in Gaza were involved in the abhorrent attacks against Israel on October 7th, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) opened an investigation, and the Secretary-General launched an Independent Review of how UNRWA upholds neutrality in its work. The OIOS investigation into the allegations against these individuals is ongoing.  If any of these allegations is proven to be true, this would constitute an appalling betrayal of Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, and UN values.

Meanwhile, the Independent Review published its findings in April. It confirmed that UNRWA – and I quote – “possesses a more developed approach to neutrality than other similar UN or NGO entities”.  The Review further emphasized that protecting neutrality is a shared responsibility between the United Nations and Member States, especially Member States where UN entities are based, including Israel.  UNRWA is fully committed to implementing the Review’s recommendations together with Member States in this spirit of shared responsibility.  And to this end, we thank the members of this Council for signing the statement on “shared commitments to UNRWA”.    

Together we must push back against calls to dismantle the Agency.  UNRWA is targeted because of its role in safeguarding the rights of Palestine Refugees, and because it embodies the international community’s commitment to a just and lasting political solution.  UNRWA exists because a political solution does not.  It exists because a Palestinian State that can deliver public services in its place does not.

Mr. President,

To reopen the pathway to peace, we need the support of this Council.  Please allow me to conclude with three asks urging you:

First, to persist in your efforts to secure a ceasefire.This should bring desperately needed respite to the people of Gaza and the region, the immediate release of all hostages, and an increase in the flow of humanitarian supplies and commercial goods into Gaza.

Second, to protect the mandate of UNRWA including within the framework of a transition.UNRWA must continue providing services until a political solution is at hand. There is no credible alternative to UNRWA in Gaza and across the region. We need political and financial support now more than ever to continue our vital task of serving one of the most vulnerable communities in the world. And we hope that this Council will speak out in one voice against attacks – legislative or otherwise – on the Agency.

Third and finally, to advance a peaceful solution to this seven-decade long conflict.The longer the war in Gaza persists, the further we drift from achieving a peaceful solution that would bring Palestinians and Israelis together, recognize our shared humanity, heal, and learn to live side by side in peace and security.  This solution must also – at long last – bring an end to the plight of Palestine Refugees.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Background Information:

UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency’s area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.

UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. 

Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on.

UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development. It does this through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance.  UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.

The briefing was done on July 26 at UN Headquarters