Geneva – The Board of Peace's announcement of its intention to end the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip is extremely concerning.
It signifies a highly serious and unlawful overreach of the UN General Assembly's mandate, which established UNRWA in 1949, and an effort to weaken the Agency's international role in representing the ongoing responsibility towards Palestinian refugees. This move could lead to its elimination under the guise of reconstruction and stability efforts.
The Board of Peace announced on its official X account that "UNRWA has no place in the new Gaza" and that they are "turning the page on the complex of perpetual aid dependency and conflict." This statement overlooks the reality that Gaza residents' reliance on aid is not a dependency culture but a consequence of occupation, siege, starvation, and widespread destruction of their means of survival.
The Board of Peace's choice to endorse inflammatory and previously debunked Israeli narratives against UNRWA shows that it is not a neutral mechanism for civilian protection or reconstruction
Discussing "turning the page" on conflict by excluding UNRWA essentially ignores that the core issues, such as displacement, occupation, and the denial of the right of return and self-determination, still persist. Removing the UN's role as a witness to the refugee situation does not resolve the conflict; instead, it worsens the underlying causes and solidifies injustice.
The Board reposted a video featuring a comment by Jeff Bartos, the U.S. Representative for UN Management and Reform. He framed the issue as a choice between funding UNRWA, which he described in an inflammatory and misleading way as a source of "incitement, terrorism, and stagnation," or supporting the Board of Peace, which he said provides Gaza residents with "a path to peace, prosperity, and real durable change."
This framing is based on a false and harmful binary, transforming the funding of humanitarian aid for refugees and civilians from an international duty into a tool to delegitimise UNRWA and distort its core mandate. It overlooks that peace cannot be achieved by removing a UN mandate central to the Palestinian refugee issue, but by ending settler colonialism and dismantling related control and repression associated with it, such as the unlawful military occupation, apartheid, and siege, while also ensuring accountability and protecting the Palestinian people's inalienable rights.
The danger of this discourse lies not just in its explicit hostility towards UNRWA but also in what it uncovers about the Board of Peace's political and legal perspective. This perspective conflicts with international law because it treats a UN mandate, created by the General Assembly and renewed by member states, as an obstacle to be overcome rather than an international obligation to be respected and enabled.
The Board's choice to endorse inflammatory and previously debunked Israeli narratives against UNRWA, instead of relying on international law and UN resolutions, shows that, in its current form, it is not a neutral mechanism for civilian protection or reconstruction. Rather, it functions as a biased political tool designed to reshape Palestinian realities under the terms of the occupying power, at the expense of Palestinian rights.
The Board of Peace's position is closely linked to Israeli campaigns of incitement and targeting against UNRWA. It serves as a political extension of these efforts, seeking to lend them false legitimacy by echoing the Israeli narrative. This narrative aims to weaken the Agency's legal and political status and its connection to the Palestinian refugees' right to return. Recognised under international law and UN resolutions, this right is not subject to a statute of limitations and cannot be dismissed or undermined by delegitimising the UN institution responsible for addressing the refugees' plight, until a fair and lasting solution is achieved.
Led by US President Donald Trump, the proposed Board of Peace lacks the legal and moral authority to alter the international approach on Palestinian refugees. This is especially true given its involvement in supporting Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. Any role for the Board must adhere to international law, the UN Charter, and the inalienable rights of peoples. It cannot, in any form or label, supersede UN General Assembly resolutions or terminate the mandate of a UN body, which was recently renewed with an "overwhelming vote" from member states.
The discourse about a 'new Gaza without UNRWA' cannot be separated from an attempt to reward Israel for its systematic targeting of the Agency and its role, rather than holding it accountable for the crimes it has committed, including genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. UNRWA is a UN mandate tied to a refugee case that has not yet been resolved. Any effort to unilaterally end this mandate is a political endeavour to dismiss the right to return, a right that no party has the power to nullify, circumvent, or erase, however the political or administrative arrangements in the Gaza Strip may change.
Based on its mandate, experience, and organisational setup, UNRWA serves as the core of a vital network providing public services to nearly 5.9 million Palestinian refugees. It was created through a UN General Assembly mandate under Resolution 302 of 1949, to operate within the "Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem," as well as in "Lebanon, Jordan, and the Syrian Arab Republic."
This UN mandate, which has been renewed until 30 June 2029, connects the protection and humanitarian safety net for Palestinian refugees with ongoing international responsibility, aiming for a just and lasting solution based on relevant UN resolutions, especially Resolution 194. Any attempt to dismantle or replace this mandate outside the General Assembly's scope significantly threatens its authority and risks bypassing the international legal systems overseeing the Palestinian refugee issue.
Israel's actions against UNRWA are part of a wider, systematic pattern of targeting Palestinians and their survival resources. This includes attacks on the Agency's staff and facilities, which are safeguarded by international law. To date, 391 of the Agency's employees and affiliate workers have been killed, and 312 of its facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Many of these facilities housed displaced civilians seeking refuge, who later fell victim to lethal attacks.
Israel is actively working to dismantle the Agency both operationally and institutionally by obstructing its logistics, such as preventing its international staff from entering the occupied Palestinian territory for about 18 months. Additionally, Israel unlawfully seized the Agency's headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem, later bulldozing and burning it in January 2026, in direct defiance of the international community and in grave violation of the United Nations' privileges, immunities, and property.
The politicisation of relief efforts and linking them to a unilateral political agenda do not benefit Gaza's residents. Instead, they undermine the reconstruction process by removing any rights-based or legal aspect, replacing a well-established UN mandate with a body that is not accountable to the General Assembly or the Security Council.
Any international involvement in the Gaza Strip, whether through the Board of Peace or another entity, must adhere to the UN Charter, international law, and the inalienable rights of peoples. It must not be exploited to reshape Palestinian reality or to reinforce the outcomes of genocide, settler colonialism, apartheid, and siege. Any political or administrative arrangements that do not protect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, particularly the right to self-determination and the Palestinian refugees' right to return, lack international legitimacy, regardless of the political support they may receive.
In light of the 2025 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, states must do more than avoid supporting actions that weaken UNRWA. They are also prohibited from recognising any arrangements that result from or reinforce such undermining. Additionally, they should not provide aid or assistance to any course that replaces UN mandates with political bodies lacking the authority and cooperation necessary for the UN and its agencies, particularly UNRWA, to operate effectively in the occupied Palestinian territory without obstruction.
The international community and UN member states must oppose any efforts to weaken UNRWA's mandate, halt its operations in Gaza, or substitute it with alternative political structures that undermine its reputation and disconnect its work from the essence of the Palestinian refugee issue. States need to resist coordinated campaigns of incitement against the Agency, which are part of broader attacks on the international protection system and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including Palestinian refugees.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor urges member states to honour their financial commitments to UNRWA and to dismiss any rhetoric linking humanitarian aid to political conditions. It is crucial to ensure safe and immediate access for UNRWA's international personnel into the occupied Palestinian territory, safeguard the Agency's facilities, privileges, and immunities, and allow it to resume its humanitarian efforts fully in the Gaza Strip.
UN member states, including those on the Board of Peace, should not provide political, legal, or financial backing to any international arrangement in Gaza that bypasses the United Nations system or attempts to redefine the roles of authorised UN agencies outside of proper legal procedures.
