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A man looks down at a crowd of people while holding a bag of flour at a UNRWA refugee camp
Image: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/REUTERS Image: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/REUTERS

UNRWA

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA, supports relief and development aid for Palestinian refugees in the Middle East. It gets most of its funding from UN member states.

A girl looks over a railing at a pit formed behind a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees school used as a sheltering place

What is UNRWA?

PoliticsJanuary 28, 2024
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All Content on this topic

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Why is UNRWA aid agency so important to Palestinians?

Palestinians in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, tell DW how important the UN aid agency is in their lives.
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EU aligns with US on UNRWA's critical role in Middle East

Gazans fear their lifeline may collapse after the Israeli parliament voted to ban UNRWA in Gaza in early 2025.
ConflictsOctober 29, 202402:21 min
The damaged headquarters of the UNWRA building in Gaza City

Israeli Knesset votes to cut off UNRWA's aid to Palestinians

Monday's Knesset vote means an effective end to the UN body's relief work in Israel.
ConflictsOctober 28, 2024
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A collage of two unrelated clips is going viral, falsely claiming to show Hamas fighters shooting at Gaza aid airdrops.
ConflictsOctober 25, 2024
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Following Sinwar's death, X is awash with false claims that UNRWA added a black ribbon in mourning.
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Heavy Israeli bombardment in northern Gaza

Sam Rose, senior deputy director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, reports from Nuseirat.
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Dozens killed in Israeli attack on UN-run school

At least 37 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza.
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A destroyed UNRWA school building in Gaza

UNRWA: Review finds 'neutrality' issues, no terror proof

A review of UNRWA's neutrality was prompted by unproven Israeli accusations that aid workers in Gaza were terrorists.
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Germany faces Gaza genocide charge at top UN court

The suit argues that by defunding UNRWA and supporting Israel, Germany is "facilitating genocide" in the Gaza Strip.
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Palestinians return to Khan Younis

Meanwhile, many civilians in Gaza continue to face severe shortages of food and basic supplies.
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A blue-and-white sign for the UNRWA headquarters, riddled with bullet holes

EU to release funds for Palestinian aid organization UNRWA

Many donors have suspended funding to the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA. The EU has said it will now resume funding.
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Palestinian flags hang above pedestrians walking along an alley at the Shatila camp for Palestinian refugees in the southern suburb of Beirut

UNRWA funding crisis alarms Palestinians in Lebanon

Halting vital UNRWA services to more than a quarter of a million Palestinians in Lebanon could have grave consequences.
ConflictsFebruary 28, 202403:18 min
Murals on a damaged wall of the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City depict relief efforts.

Gaza: UNRWA at 'breaking point' as humanitarian needs soar

What does UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinians, do, and what does it mean for Gaza if it runs out of money?
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A view of destruction at UNRWA headquarters, which provides aid to millions of Palestinians and works under the United Nations, after being targeted by Israel in Gaza

Will UNRWA's cash crisis lead to extremism, instability?

If the UN agency responsible for Palestinians collapses due to lack of funds, the impact will be felt well beyond Gaza.
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A young girl in a pink top is seen handing a blue tupperware box over a wall to a waiting hand, amid a countless other hands holding metal pots and plastic containers.

UNRWA asks for EU funds to maintain lifesaving aid delivery

The UN's Palestinian relief agency has said its funding must continue, despite the serious allegations made against it.
ConflictsFebruary 12, 2024
Spain's Social Affairs Minister Pablo Bustinduy is seen here speaking into a DW microphone.

UNRWA funding exit is 'collective punishment'

Spain's social affairs minister warns Germany against halting funds for the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees.
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Germany's Middle East policy has reached a dead end

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the two-state solution that Germany backs.
PoliticsJanuary 31, 2024
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Blinken urges UNRWA to immediately probe allegations

The US Secretary of State urged the UN agency to look into the "deeply troubling" allegations against its staff.
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A woman walks past the UNRWA headquarters

After US, Germany freeze aid to UNRWA, could EU follow?

The EU will review its future aid to the Palestinian refugee aid agency amid terror allegations against staff members.
ConflictsJanuary 29, 2024
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza

UNRWA operations may grind to a halt due to lack of funding

Funding to UNRWA is drying up after accusations that staff members were involved in the October 7 attacks in Israel.
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A truck marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo leaves the Gaza Strip.

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Aid workers sit in the back of a UNRWA truck

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Several nations have paused funding after allegations tying some of the agency's staff to Hamas attacks on Israel.
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UNRWA spokesperson: 'We need humanitarian access'

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Palestinian refugees at a UN-run school in Lebanon

UN to open Palestinian schools despite US cuts

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Palestinian carrying a bag of wheat distributed by the UNRWA | Symbolbild UNWRA (Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images)

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Trump mural in Bethlehem

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