Global Issues, World War

[World War] The demise of the UN’s Palestinian agency could spell disaster for millions. Here’s why Israel wants it dismantled

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By smileyriley1

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/29/middleeast/unrwa-funding-israel-war-mime-intl/index.html

# Summary

  1. UNRWA fired several employees after the allegations and launched an investigation, promising accountability if found responsible.
    1. UNRWA provides aid and services to Palestinian refugees and their descendants, and is the only UN agency dedicated to a specific group of refugees in specific areas.
  2. Israel has longstanding issues with UNRWA, accusing it of aiding Hamas and calling for its complete dismantling. 
  3. UNRWA, the primary humanitarian aid group in Gaza, has been facing a crisis due to insufficient funding. 
  4. The agency, which has 11 food distribution centers for 1 million people in Gaza, has provided aid to 2 million Gazans and 1 million people using UNRWA shelters for food and healthcare. 
  5. Millions more Palestinian refugees live in neighboring countries like Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, relying on UNRWA aid. 
  6. Israel likely wants a phased-out exit to avoid a worsened humanitarian shock on the ground.
  7. Israel opposes UNRWA, a UN agency that has been criticized for its role in Gaza and its definition of Palestinians’ refugee status. In 2018, the US ended funding for UNRWA at Israel’s behest, but Joe Biden restored funding in 2021. 
  8. UNRWA has denied allegations of aid being diverted to Hamas and teaches hatred in its schools.
    1. The threat to remove UNRWA from the besieged Gaza Strip has caused UN officials and those who rely on the agency to sound the alarm. 
    2. Israel views UNRWA as biased against it and considers it one of the more hostile UN agencies against it in international arenas.

# Conclusion

  1. The most affected people are the innocent civilians and hostages as we can see them becoming the topic of urgency and how they are in an unfortunate situation where their necessities are deprived of because of one country. The most indirectly affected 
  2. This event is important because if Israel manages to stop the US from funding the UNRWA, over 30% of the possible resources/funding vanishes → deprivation of food for Gazans.
  3. This article presents Israel and how they seem to be even against providing aid due to their so-called “suspicion” of Gazan workers participating in the Oct.7th attack. Something that perplexes me: UNRWA has promised disciplinary action if Israel’s suspicion proves to be correct. Why is Israel so upset and unsettled?