UNRWA provides far more than humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. In this impoverished enclave, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees acts almost like a state, providing essential services such as health care, education and even psychological support.
That’s why there was an outburst of dismay from Palestinians, countries around the world and aid organizations when Israel’s parliament voted to outlaw any contact between itself and UNRWA — a move that will severely hamper the embattled humanitarian agency.
Israel says the organization has been infiltrated by Hamas “widely and deeply,” accusing its staffers of taking part in the Oct. 7 terror attack in which 1,200 people died and another 250 were kidnapped. In response, UNRWA fired at least 10 people.
Much of the rest of the world says that while it is not perfect, UNRWA is the only thing standing between the humanitarian disaster playing out in Gaza and a fate somehow…
