DaysofPal- The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has found itself at the very center of Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, facing a combination of military siege, political pressure, and incitement campaigns that have crippled its operations at a time when Gaza is enduring one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history.
Since the war erupted in October 2023, Israeli occupation has intensified its campaign against UNRWA, regarded as the most prominent international witness to the plight and rights of Palestinian refugees.
The pressure culminated in October 2024, when the Israeli Knesset approved laws restricting the agency’s activities in occupied East Jerusalem.
In March 2025, Israeli forces imposed a tight blockade on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including UNRWA supplies, which remain barred to this day.
The move has led to an unprecedented deterioration in humanitarian, health, and food conditions across the besieged enclave.
As hunger spread and diseases multiplied, the United Nations declared a famine in northern Gaza in September last year, reporting that more than 300 people had died from hunger and malnutrition, a stark indicator of how deep the crisis has become.
In a further escalation, Israeli forces demolished UNRWA offices and facilities in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem in early January 2026, raising the Israeli flag over the agency’s compound in a move the UN described as an unprecedented attack.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has repeatedly warned of the implications of the political and financial assault on the agency, including donor funding suspensions, stressing that these measures threaten its ability to deliver essential services to millions of refugees and undermine their fundamental rights, foremost among them the right of return.
In displacement camps across Gaza, the impact of the siege on UNRWA is painfully visible.
“I used to rely on UNRWA for food and medicine, while today, our lives have become miserable,” said 59-year-old Najah Farhat, displaced from Rafah to Nuseirat camp.
She explained that last year’s famine followed the prevention of UNRWA aid from entering Gaza, even though it had long been a lifeline for thousands of families.
Over the past year, UNRWA media adviser Adnan Abu Hasna issued repeated appeals to allow hundreds of aid trucks into the Strip. Many of these trucks remain stuck outside Gaza, unable to deliver food, medicine, and other essentials to desperate civilians.
The war and blockade have also devastated the education sector, long anchored by UNRWA’s vast school network.
“Our children have been deprived of education since the beginning of the war,” said 40-year-old mother Yasmin Hammad, whose children attended UNRWA schools before they were forced to close.
“If the schools were open, our children would at least receive psychological and educational support.” She added.
According to UNRWA reports, more than 450 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed, either totally or partially.
A report by the University of Cambridge described the situation as “educational genocide,” citing the systematic targeting of educational infrastructure and the loss of hundreds of teachers and thousands of students.
Patients in Gaza are facing an equally dire reality as UNRWA’s health services wither under siege and funding cuts.
“I haven’t found my chronic disease medications at UNRWA clinics for months,” said 62-year-old Magdi Ahmad.
“We keep going back to the clinics, but the medicines are simply not available.” He said.
Twenty-eight-year-old mother Sana al-Batta complained of the lack of essential supplies for infants.
“The answer we always get from the health centers is: ‘There is nothing, because supplies are not allowed in,’” she said.
Alongside the physical and political assaults, UNRWA is grappling with a severe financial crisis. The agency estimates a funding shortfall of around $220 million, driven by reduced contributions and mounting political pressure.
To cope, UNRWA has adopted emergency measures, including cutting services, reducing staff salaries, and terminating the contracts of hundreds of employees.
The agency warns that if current conditions persist, the sustainability of its operations will be in jeopardy, leaving millions of Palestinian refugees at growing risk amid collapsing basic services and worsening economic and social vulnerability.
Between blockade and targeted attacks, UNRWA in Gaza remains a stark symbol of an ever-deepening humanitarian disaster.
For refugees across the Strip, the agency’s return to full relief operations represents a last line of defense against total collapse, one they fear is slipping further out of reach with every passing day.
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