UNRWA and the Allegations Against Its Workers, Explained

The United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees is under scrutiny because of the alleged involvement of some of its workers in Hamas’ October attack on Israel, and the subsequent announcement of funding pauses by at least 10 countries is prompting questions about how Gazans will be impacted amid the war.

Israel’s accusations against a dozen employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, have pushed countries – including the United States – to at least temporarily pull back financial support of the agency, which provides education, health care and other aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and four other Middle East locations.

The news comes as the war – waged in response to the brutal Oct. 7 terrorist attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 200 taken hostage – between Israel and the designated terror group Hamas nears its fourth month. Approximately 26,000 Palestinians reportedly have been killed and close to 2 million have been displaced from their homes in Gaza.

Here is what you need to know about the U.N. agency, the allegations against its workers and the fallout.

A dozen employees of the agency are alleged to have either helped Hamas carry out the October attack or aided it in the days after, according to The New York Times, which reported receiving an Israeli dossier detailing the accusations.

The specific allegations covered in the dossier include one UNRWA worker kidnapping a woman from Israel, another providing rocket-propelled grenades stored at his home and another participating in an attack at an Israeli kibbutz where nearly 100 people died. Israeli authorities described 10 of the employees as actual members of Hamas, according to the Times’ reporting.

Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA commissioner-general, said on Friday that the workers had been fired and that the agency would launch an investigation into the accusations, in order to “protect the Agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance.”

“Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” Lazzarini said in a statement. “UNRWA reiterates its condemnation in the strongest possible terms of the abhorrent attacks of 7 October and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all Israeli hostages and their safe return to their families.”

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East serves the approximately 6 million Palestinian refugees, a population which is not typically served by the U.N.’s official refugee agency. UNRWA began operations in 1950 and served about 750,000 Palestinians at the time – and that number has ballooned since, according to the agency.

While UNRWA does not resettle Palestinian refugees, it provides other services such as education and health care to refugees across five separate locations. The United Nations defines Palestinian refugees as people “whose normal place of residence was Palestine” between June 1, 1946 and May 15, 1948, and “who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.” Descendants from the male line are also eligible for registration.

With nearly 2.4 million registered Palestinian refugees – close to half of the total of all Palestinian refugees – Jordan is home to the largest number among the three main host countries, followed by Syria (about 584,000) and Lebanon (about 491,000), according to the agency’s 2023 estimates. The remaining approximately 2.5 million refugees are located in the enclaves of the Gaza Strip (nearly 1.6 million) and the West Bank (more than 900,000).

Almost all funding for the agency comes from voluntary contributions – mostly from donor states.

As of Monday morning, the following 10 countries have announced they would at least pause UNRWA funding.

The U.S. was UNRWA’s largest donor in 2021, providing $338 million in funding. Germany was the second-largest funder, and together the two countries’ donations constituted close to half of the agency’s total contributions from government donors and the European Union that year.

“The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel,” reads a statement from the U.S. State Department. “The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”

The moves from nations to restrict funding could have concerning implications for Gazans. Lazzarini said in a Saturday statement that the countries’ decisions “threaten our ongoing humanitarian work across the region including and especially in the Gaza Strip.”

“It is shocking to see a suspension of funds to the Agency in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff, especially given the immediate action that UNRWA took by terminating their contracts and asking for a transparent independent investigation,” Lazzarini said. “UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over 2 million people depending on it for their sheer survival. Many are hungry as the clock is ticking towards a looming famine.”