UNRWA to be Shut Down?

 

The newspaper Israel Hayom reported, citing Arab and Western diplomatic sources, that a plan for the gradual closure of UNRWA and the transfer of its powers and activities to the Peace Council will be presented.

According to the sources, the plan is led by the Acting UNRWA Commissioner, Christian Saunders, and involves the gradual transfer of the organization's tasks to other entities, such as the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the Peace Council in the Gaza Strip.

During a meeting of UNRWA's Advisory Commission, Saunders presented the plan, linking it to the organization's difficult financial situation and the possibility of transferring a large part of its activities to relevant entities.

UNRWA's deficit for this year has reached between $70 million and $100 million, which is approximately equivalent to one-tenth of its annual operational budget.

The first steps to implement the plan have been approved, but this is drawing fierce opposition from the Palestinian leadership, which fears losing a key political tool in its conflict with Israel—namely, the "refugees" institution, according to the newspaper.

The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) recently held a meeting in Ramallah and also invited representatives of the UNRWA Workers' Union to attend.

During the meeting, it was decided that the PLO and the Palestinian Authority would work to thwart the plan, as closing UNRWA requires the approval of the United Nations General Assembly, and criticisms were directed at Saunders on the grounds that he was acting with political motives.

At a meeting of the organization's international committee held a few days ago in Amman, the capital of Jordan, a number of Western country representatives opposed the plan, including Switzerland and Ireland. Egypt also joined the opposition, while other Gulf states did not.

The Irish representative announced that he would work to find alternative funding sources for the organization in order to cancel the closure and prevent the initial steps, which include the layoff of thousands of Palestinian workers.

The newspaper learned that talks between UNRWA and the Peace Council have laid the groundwork for mechanisms to transfer authority and activity in two main areas: education and health, two fields for which the Peace Council had been preparing for over a year as part of Trump's plan for the reconstruction of Gaza.