UNRWA on the brink: Gaza war pushes UN agency towards collapse

The United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees is nearing breaking point after months of war in Gaza, political pressure and mounting casualties among its staff.

According to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the organisation that has supported Palestinian refugees for more than seven decades is now struggling to survive.

As regional tensions escalate, including the widening confrontation between Israel, Iran and the United States, the fate of the agency has become another flashpoint in an already volatile conflict.

Staff Deaths and Destroyed Facilities

The scale of losses inside Gaza has been unprecedented.

More than 390 UNRWA personnel have been killed since the war began, according to the agency — the deadliest toll in the UN’s history for a single conflict. Hundreds of its buildings across the Gaza Strip have also been damaged or destroyed.

Schools, clinics and aid centres run by UNRWA form the backbone of basic services for Palestinians in Gaza, including healthcare, sanitation and education.

Without them, millions risk losing access to essential support.

Israel Moves to Shut the Agency Down

Pressure on the agency is not only military.

Israel’s parliament has passed legislation aimed at ending UNRWA operations in East Jerusalem, including shutting schools and health facilities. The agency’s headquarters in the city was seized and later damaged during unrest.

Israeli officials have long accused UNRWA of neutrality violations, claims the organisation says are politically motivated and repeatedly disproven.

The confrontation has intensified the diplomatic battle over the agency’s future.

A System Built Over 75 Years at Risk

Created in 1949, UNRWA provides services to millions of Palestinian refugees across Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Its records and refugee registration system are also considered central to the unresolved political dispute over Palestinian displacement. Critics say dismantling the agency would weaken those claims.

Supporters warn that removing it would leave a massive vacuum.

Regional Stability on the Line

If UNRWA collapses, the consequences could ripple far beyond Gaza.

Responsibility for services to Palestinian refugees would likely fall either to Israel as the occupying power or to already strained host countries across the region. Aid groups warn that could intensify humanitarian crises and deepen political instability.

For the UN and the wider international system, the stakes may be even larger: whether a cornerstone humanitarian institution can survive a war that is rapidly reshaping the Middle East.

Israel has crushed UNRWA in Gaza – and the rest of the world has done nothing