Palestinian children will have no future without UNRWA, says UN agency chief

Philippe Lazzarini warns children face hopelessness and radicalisation without agency's education services

Children at an UNRWA school in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza. The agency says it provided education for more than 300,000 in the enclave, until the outbreak of the war last year. Reuters

Israel's decision to ban UNRWA will cut off access to education for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children, leaving them vulnerable to "hopelessness, poverty and radicalisation", the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Sunday.

The warning from Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general for UNRWA, comes after the Israeli Knesset passed two bills banning the agency on Monday. The first bill effectively halts the agency’s activities within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, while the second prohibits any interaction between Israeli institutions and the organisation.

Even Israel’s closest allies have voiced concern over the humanitarian repercussions of the decision to ban UNRWA, which runs schools and healthcare facilities in Palestinian refugee camps across Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The agency has supported four generations of Palestinian refugees since the creation of Israel in 1948, addressing one of the longest-running refugee crises in modern history.

But the most immediate impact will be on Palestinian children’s education, Mr Lazzarini said on X. "Until October last year, UNRWA provided learning to over 300,000 boys and girls in Gaza, making half of the schoolchildren cohort. They are now losing a second year of education."

Palestinians inspect damage following an Israeli air strike on a UNRWA school in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, in June. EPA

Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which began after the militant group's attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, has devastated the territory and claimed more than 43,300 lives, most of them civilians. UNRWA's schools, which became shelters as almost the entire population was displaced by Israeli attacks, have come under repeated attack by Israel. More than 220 staff members have been killed and multiple facilities hit.

The agency has also been hit in the West Bank, where Mr Lazzarini said nearly 50,000 children attend UNRWA schools, amid increasing violence against Palestinians since the war began. "Our schools are the only education system in the region that includes a human rights programme and that follows United Nations standards and values," he said.

Without an alternative, Israel’s decision to dismantle the agency “will deprive Palestinian children of learning in the foreseeable future", he said. And without learning, "children slip into hopelessness, poverty and radicalisation" and fall prey to exploitation, "including joining armed groups".

People load carts with flour at an UNRWA aid distribution centre in Deir Al Balah. AFP

Israel has long alleged that UNRWA has ties to Hamas and that the agency tolerates anti-Semitic content in its schools, and argues that it perpetuates the refugee status of Palestinians who fled their homes in what is now Israel.

Israel accused a number of UNRWA employees of involvement in the October 7 attacks, prompting major donors to temporarily suspend funding. It also alleges that Hamas used UNRWA facilities for weapons storage and access to its tunnel network. In response, UNRWA immediately dismissed most of the implicated staff, while a UN investigation found that nine may have been involved in the attack. A review led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna concluded that “UNRWA has a more developed approach to neutrality than many similar UN or NGO entities".

Death toll climbs in Gaza and Lebanon

Israel's actions against UNRWA come as its continues a weeks-long siege of northern Gaza that has already killed hundreds and displaced thousands while preventing the entry of aid, leading to catastrophic conditions. The military continues attacks across the territory, with at least 31 people killed on Sunday, Palestinian medics told Reuters, more than half of them in northern areas.

Palestinian officials said an Israeli drone strike on Saturday injured six people, including four children at a clinic in northern Gaza where children were being vaccinated against polio. The Israeli military denied responsibility.

In Lebanon, Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah have prompted more displacement orders in Baalbek ahead of planned air strikes. The warning to residents of Baalbek and Douris on Saturday was the third issued for the area by Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee since Wednesday, but the first to mention specific buildings.

It identified four structures in Baalbek, including one near the city's main hospital and Dar Baalbek school, and one building in Douris. Several strikes hit the area, residents said.

Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike on Baalbek in eastern Lebanon on Sunday. AFP

Israel has dramatically escalated its air strikes on Baalbek and other parts of Lebanon's Bekaa Valley this week, killing more than 150 people. On Wednesday, it issued a citywide bombing alert for Baalbek – an Unesco World Heritage Site renowned for its 3,000-year-old Roman temples, among the best-preserved in the world – and surrounding areas.

Israel also expanded its strikes on Hezbollah to Lebanon's northern border with Syria late on Saturday, local media reported. A strike destroyed a bridge in the upper reaches of northern Lebanon as part of an air campaign against Hezbollah supply lines from Syria.

Lebanon's National News Agency said that one child was killed in the attack on Akroum, in Akkar governorate, on the border with Syria. The death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon has now climbed to 2,897 and the number of injured to 13,150 since October 2023, including 30 dead and 183 injured in the past 24 hours, the Lebanese health ministry said on Sunday.

'Ceasefire the only solution'

With the latest round of negotiations in Doha also ending without any hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza, Mr Lazzarini said that “the focus should be on reaching an agreement to end this conflict" rather than dismantling UNRWA or seeking alternatives. "This is the only way to prioritise the return to school for hundreds of thousands of children, currently living in the rubble," he said.

Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA has been met with widespread criticism globally, with several countries and organisations, including some of Israel’s allies, arguing that the ban violates international law. Many say it marks another step in eroding Palestinian rights.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres had earlier stated that there was no alternative to UNRWA and warned that the decision could undermine efforts towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Following the Knesset vote, Mr Lazzarini shared a statement on social media calling the laws “collective punishment,” which he said would deprive more than 650,000 boys and girls of education, threatening an entire generation’s future.

Additional reporting by Nada Moucourant Atallah and Khaled Yacoub Oweis