UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on June 30 urged UN member states to urgently provide $100 million to close a critical funding shortfall for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) [1, 2]. He warned the agency was nearing a breaking point due to a liquidity crisis that jeopardizes its ability to fulfill its mandate, renewed six months earlier by the UN General Assembly [1, 2].

UNRWA supports around 2.6 million Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria by delivering aid, education, healthcare, social services, and shelter [1, 3]. The agency has faced severe funding cuts since January 2024, when the United States, UNRWA's largest donor, suspended aid following Israeli allegations that some UNRWA staff were involved in the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 [1, 3].

An independent UN investigation disclosed on the same day as Guterres’s appeal found evidence linking nine UNRWA staff to the attack but cleared or found insufficient evidence against most accused [1, 3]. Since the outbreak of war in October 2023, UNRWA lost 390 staff lives, with schools and hospitals among critical infrastructure attacked [1, 4].

Facing the shortfall, UNRWA has cut service delivery hours by 20% as austerity measures [1]. Conditions remain dire, especially in Gaza where 80% of the population is displaced and over 2.3 million residents suffer food insecurity and lack basic services [4, 2]. Guterres condemned disinformation campaigns, legislative and operational restrictions undermining UNRWA’s work [1, 4, 2].

Guterres said, “They cannot keep going like this without urgent backing and financial support from member states,” emphasizing UNRWA as “a stabilizing force in an age of instability” and warning, “As we meet here today, the safety and welfare of millions of Palestine refugees hangs in the balance” [1, 3].

UNRWA was established in 1948 as a temporary agency but continues its role due to the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict [4]. UN General Assembly President Verónica Michelle Bachelet pledged ongoing support for the agency until the establishment of a Palestinian state removes its necessity [4].

The UN General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee will monitor efforts to meet the urgent funding goal and maintain UNRWA’s operations amid worsening humanitarian conditions [1, 2].