UNRWA and Israel

The relationship between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Israel is a feature of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. For decades, UNRWA has faced Israeli allegations surrounding its neutrality. It is the largest relief organization in the Gaza Strip which is currently undergoing a humanitarian crisis during the Gaza war. UNRWA was created as a United Nations agency in 1949 to support the relief of Palestinian refugees in the wake of their expulsion and flight during the 1948 Palestine war. After Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War, it requested that UNRWA continue its operations there, which it would facilitate.

UNRWA offices in East Jerusalem, Israeli-occupied West Bank.

In early 2024, Israel made a series of allegations against UNRWA, including that a number of its Gaza Strip staff had participated in the October 7 attacks and that hundreds of them were members of militant groups.^[1] The allegations led to aid cuts to the organization, most of which were later reversed with the exception of the United States, the organization's largest donor.^[2][3][4] Eventually, a UN investigation found that nine UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the attack on Israel and terminated them, found that evidence against nine other staff members was insufficient, and found that there was no evidence against one additional accused staff member.^[5] In October 2024, the Knesset—based on these allegations—passed bills banning UNRWA from operating within Israel.^[6][7]

In October 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that "Israel has not substantiated its allegations that a significant part of UNRWA’s employees are ‘members of Hamas… or other terrorist factions”.^[8][9]