Why Israel is determined to destroy UNRWA

Targeting a school during a war could be justified or, at least, argued to have been a mistake. But striking more than 120 schools, killing and wounding thousands of civilians sheltering inside, can only be intentional and a horrific war crime. Between Oct. 7 and July 18, Israel did precisely that, targeting UN infrastructure in the besieged Gaza Strip with total impunity.

The price has been horrific. According to UNRWA estimates, at least 561 internally displaced people have been killed in its shelters and 1,768 injured since the start of the war. In fact, within a period of just 10 days, between July 8 and July 18, at least six UN-run schools, which have served as makeshift shelters for displaced Palestinians, were targeted by the Israeli army, resulting in the killing and wounding of hundreds.

Historically, UN-linked organizations have seemed to be somewhat immune from the impacts of war on local populations. The privilege of being neutral outsiders to the conflict allowed those affiliated with such organizations to carry out their duties largely unhindered.

The Israeli war on Gaza, however, is the primary exception among all modern conflicts. According to UN sources, 274 aid workers and more than 500 healthcare workers have been killed. These figures are consistent with all other numbers produced by the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. Indeed, not a single category of people has been spared: not doctors or civil defense workers, mayors or even traffic police officers.

It was obvious from the very start of the war that Israel wanted to criminalize all Palestinians, not only those affiliated with Hamas or other groups. It has targeted the civilian population and any international organization that has come to their aid.

Blaming and dehumanizing all of Gaza is part of an Israeli strategy that aims to allow the Israeli army to operate without any restraints and without even the most minimal threshold of morality or respect for international law.

But the Israeli attacks on the UN and its institutions, particularly UNRWA, the agency responsible for the welfare of Gaza’s refugees, serve a different purpose. Israel no longer attempts to mask or justify its attacks on the organization, as it did during previous Gaza wars. This time around, the Israeli war has been accompanied, from the very start, with the outlandish accusation that UNRWA members participated in the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas and other Palestinian groups.

Without providing any evidence, Tel Aviv launched an international campaign of vilification against the UN organization that has, for decades, provided educational, medical and humanitarian services to millions of Palestinian refugees.

Sadly, and tellingly, some Western and even non-Western governments answered the Israeli call of punishing UNRWA by withholding badly needed funds, the urgency of which not only stems from the direct impact of the Israeli war, but also the acute famine resulting from the war.

True, a number of governments eventually resumed their funding of the UN organization, but such action was only taken after much damage had already been done. Additionally, most, if not all, Western governments have not taken any action against Israel for its continued targeting of UNRWA facilities and thus the killing of hundreds of innocent Palestinians.

This noncommittal international attitude emboldened Israel to the extent that, on May 29, the Knesset passed a preliminary reading of a bill that designated UNRWA as a “terrorist organization.” And Israeli spokesman David Mencer last week accused the head of UNRWA himself of being a “terrorist sympathizer.”

However, Israel’s hate for UNRWA is older than the current war. For years, the Israeli government, with the aid of the Trump administration, labored to shut down the organization altogether. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s former adviser on the Middle East, said in January 2018 that it was “important to have an honest and sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA.” For him, the dismantling of the organization meant the dismissal of the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Indeed, the issue is not just about UNRWA, but rather the historic role that the organization has served as being a reminder of the plight of millions of Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Territories, the Middle East and across the world.

Israel has targeted Gaza’s civilian population and any international organization that has come to their aid.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud

UNRWA was established through UN General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV) of Dec. 8, 1949. Its founding came one year after the passing of UN Resolution 194, which granted Palestinian refugees the right to “return to their homes.”

Although UNRWA’s mission has turned into a permanent mandate, as Palestinian refugees have not been granted their right of return, the role of the organization remains as critical as it was decades ago.

Since Kushner and others have failed to dismantle UNRWA, the Israeli government has taken advantage of its war on Gaza to achieve the same purpose. In Israel’s thinking, without UNRWA, the issue of Palestinian refugees would lose its main legal platform and would ultimately disappear.

This would give Israel the space and leverage to “resolve” the problem of the refugees in any way it sees fit, especially if it has the full backing of Washington.

Israel must not be allowed to dismantle UNRWA or to dismiss the generational struggle of Palestinian refugees, which is the core of the Palestinian fight for justice and freedom.

The international community must challenge Israel’s vilification of UNRWA and insist on the centrality of the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Without it, no real peace is possible.

• Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and author. He is editor of The Palestine Chronicle and nonresident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.” X: @RamzyBaroud