As I conclude my leadership of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the international community stands at a dangerous crossroads. The systematic dismantling of this critical institution not only imperils millions of refugees but also undermines the very foundations of international law and regional security.
For over seven decades, UNRWA has been a lifeline, delivering essential services like education, healthcare, and sanitation. Today, it is being pushed to the brink. The agency has endured an unprecedented campaign of physical destruction and political assault. Its infrastructure in Gaza has been extensively damaged, its headquarters seized, and hundreds of its staff members have been killed or injured with complete impunity. Concurrently, a sustained disinformation effort seeks to falsely discredit the agency’s neutrality and operational capacity.
The objective behind this campaign is clear: to eliminate a key institutional pillar that safeguards Palestinian refugee rights and documented history. The erosion of UNRWA is not an isolated issue but a deliberate strategy with far-reaching consequences. Its collapse would create a catastrophic service vacuum, placing an impossible burden on host nations like Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, and forcing the occupying power to assume direct responsibility it has long avoided.
The international community’s failure to robustly defend a UN entity sets a perilous precedent. It signals that the rules-based order can be disregarded, normalizing conflict outside legal boundaries. The current crisis in Gaza and escalating regional tensions are direct results of this failure.
The stakes could not be higher. Allowing UNRWA to fail would compound generations of suffering for refugees and fuel further instability across the Middle East. Upholding international law and preserving multilateralism requires immediate, decisive action. A broad coalition must now mobilize to provide the political and financial support necessary to sustain this agency. The alternative is not merely the end of an aid organization, but a severe blow to the prospects for peace, stability, and justice.
