Amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, new calls have emerged to reshape the territory’s future by ending the role of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), replacing its relief-based model with a new development-oriented framework — a shift that aligns closely with the US-backed push to restructure how Gaza is governed and administered after the war.
The proposal reflects a broader debate playing out among officials involved in shaping Gaza’s postwar “Peace Council” structure, which is expected to oversee reconstruction and humanitarian coordination in the territory. Sidelining UNRWA — the primary provider of aid, education, and healthcare to Palestinian refugees for over seven decades — would represent a fundamental shift in how humanitarian support reaches Gaza’s roughly two million residents, most of whom are refugees or descendants of refugees registered with the agency.
Palestinian officials and rights advocates have previously warned that efforts to dismantle UNRWA’s mandate risk stripping Palestinian refugees of a recognized legal status tied to the right of return, beyond simply disrupting service delivery on the ground.
