UN Agency’s Role Questioned in Gaza Reconstruction
With President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the Hamas-Israel conflict now in play, experts on the Middle East suggest that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) won’t be involved in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. This observation stems from criticisms regarding its past incompetence and alleged support for Hamas.
Hugh Dugan, who served as a Special Assistant to the President for International Organization Affairs on the National Security Council in 2020, mentioned that UNRWA’s core mission was to provide relief until a stable political resolution was achieved. He emphasized that while a solution is being sought, true humanitarian efforts would need new strategies until Hamas disarms.
Dugan also pointed out that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been independently supplying aid outside of UN networks to avoid diversion by armed groups. He remarked that other UN humanitarian initiatives would benefit from aligning with the GHF due to the urgent need for assistance.
Dugan elaborated on UNRWA’s transformation from a small organization into a vast bureaucratic entity that perpetuates fiscal waste by granting refugee status to descendants of original Palestinian refugees. Initially established to assist 800,000 refugees after the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, he argues that it has instead contributed to a total of 5.9 million registered refugees while failing to eliminate its mandate.
He concluded that despite substantial financial investments, many Palestinians remain reliant on basic humanitarian aid, which has led UNRWA to become a political actor, compromising its original humanitarian neutrality, especially given its ties to Hamas.
Contradicting these allegations, UNRWA spokesperson Juliet Touma labeled the accusations as unfounded, asserting that investigations by the United Nations have not substantiated such claims. She argued that these allegations jeopardize the safety of humanitarian workers on the ground in Gaza and hinder their ability to assist those in need.
In a recent report, the U.S. State Department noted that it had assessed UNRWA as fundamentally compromised, leading the administration to call for its dismantling. The Biden administration had previously allocated $1 billion to UNRWA before the suspension of funding in 2024.
Moreover, a State Department representative reiterated President Trump’s Executive Order, emphasizing the infiltration of UNRWA by terrorist groups, including Hamas, and linked personnel to the October 2023 attack on Israel.
Former Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus remarked that UNRWA had significantly aided Hamas’s military efforts through its infrastructure, insinuating that Hamas has exploited these facilities for military operations.
As discussions on Gaza’s future unfold, there are calls for a significant restructuring, with officials advocating for the removal of both Hamas and UNRWA from influencing the region’s political landscape.
