Palestinian refugees in the West Bank fear UNRWA closure

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – In refugee camps in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinians relying on U.N. agency UNRWA for schooling and health care fear key services will close as donors halt funding over allegations that staff. Members took part in Hamas’ October 7 attack. ,

Much of the focus of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees has been on its emergency operations in war-ravaged Gaza, where it is vital to the aid effort for the enclave’s 2.3 million residents.

But the agency is also a lifeline for Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East, including in the West Bank where it serves more than 870,000 people, running 96 schools and 43 primary health facilities.

“If they stop aid from UNRWA, there will be no help of any kind for the residents, especially in the refugee camps because they rely on UNRWA,” said Mohammed al-Masri, a resident of the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem. “

UNRWA announced last month that it had dismissed staff after Israel alleged that 12 of its 13,000 staff in Gaza had taken part in an October 7 attack by Hamas fighters who stormed the border fence. and attacked Israeli cities.

According to Israeli figures, the Islamic militant group killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 250 people back to Gaza as hostages. Health officials there say more than 28,000 people have been killed in Israel’s air and ground war in the Hamas-run area.

The allegations against UNRWA rekindle a long-standing Israeli demand to dismantle an agency that both sides consider closely linked to the refugee problem dating back to Israel’s creation in 1948. At the center of a decades-old conflict.

About 700,000 Palestinians, who 75 years ago were half the Arab population of British-ruled Palestine, fled or were expelled, many to neighboring Arab countries where their descendants live. After 1948 the tent camps in which they lived developed into built-up townships.

With no permanent solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict on the horizon, they retain refugee status, including in the West Bank and Gaza, and claim the right to return to their homes within Israel’s borders.

Israel has always rejected this, saying that they decided to leave and have no right to return. Last month Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated calls for UNRWA to be closed down, saying it “wants to preserve the issue of Palestinian refugees”.

Dawood Faraz was 10 years old when his family became refugees. Now 85, he has lived most of his life in the Aida refugee camp in the West Bank, near Jerusalem.

“Cutting aid will hurt many people. Not just me,” she said, referring to UNRWA-managed health services and schools in the camp.

The agency has said it expects donors to review their funding decisions in a few weeks following the initial report of the Israeli allegations and UNRWA’s handling of them.

It has said it may lack the funds to operate services by the end of February if funding is not restored.

Agency spokesman Kazem Abu said, “UNRWA is forced into the worst situation possible, which is a nightmare for us, and that is to stop our operations. Not only in Gaza, (but) in other places. Where we work.” Khalaf.

Outside UNRWA’s West Bank operations center in Jerusalem, the city’s deputy mayor, Aryeh King, speaks at a protest by Israelis demanding the agency’s closure.

“It is now time for the Israeli government to decide to deal with this organization as an enemy,” King said, as protesters held signs reading “Expel UNRWA.”

(Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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