The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) could face a gradual shutdown under a proposal to transfer its responsibilities in Gaza to the US-backed Board of Peace and its operations in Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority, according to a report published Sunday by Israel Hayom.
Arab and Western diplomatic sources told the newspaper that UNRWA Acting Commissioner-General Christian Saunders has been advancing the initiative in response to the agency’s worsening financial crisis and Israeli legislation restricting its activities.
The proposal would mark a significant restructuring of international assistance to Palestinians, potentially ending UNRWA’s decades-long role as the principal provider of education, healthcare and social services to millions of Palestinians.
AFSI Insight
The possible permanent closure of UNRWA would be a welcome and long-overdue development. For years, UNRWA has perpetuated the Palestinian refugee narrative, promoted an inherited refugee status across generations, and operated in an environment where employees and facilities have been linked to Hamas and terrorist activity. Its financial crisis should not be viewed merely as a budgetary problem, but as an opportunity to dismantle an institution that has helped sustain the conflict rather than resolve it. Humanitarian assistance should be delivered through transparent, accountable organizations that do not perpetuate hatred, terrorism, or the false promise of a so-called right of return. UNRWA must not be rebranded or rescued under another name. Its closure should be permanent.
The reported plan to transfer UNRWA’s responsibilities in Gaza and Judea and Samaria must not become a cosmetic restructuring that allows the agency’s destructive legacy to continue under new management. The real test is whether the world finally ends UNRWA’s role in perpetuating the Palestinian refugee fiction, the so-called right of return, and an institutional culture that has enabled Hamas and fueled generations of hostility toward Israel. Humanitarian services can and should continue through accountable organizations, but UNRWA must be permanently dismantled—not rescued with a new name or funding source.