UN agency for Palestinian refugees has ‘neutrality problems’ but remains ‘irreplaceable’, says independent report

This mission to assess the “neutrality” of UNRWA, handed over to the head of the United Nations on Monday, is chaired by former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip has “persistent neutrality issues” policy, but Israel has yet to provide the “evidence” that its members are linked to “terrorist organizations”points out Monday, April 22, a report submitted to the head of the United Nations.

UNRWA remains “irreplaceable and indispensable for the human and economic development of the Palestinians”underlines this independent group, chaired by the former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna and charged by Secretary General Antonio Guterres with a mission to evaluate the “neutrality” of UNRWA.

Despite “a solid framework”, “problems linked to neutrality”

The agency “remains crucial in providing vital humanitarian assistance and essential social services, including health and education, to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank”underlines the independent group. “But despite this solid framework, problems related to neutrality persist”he notes.

Among the problems of neutrality: this concerns “cases of staff employees publicly expressing their political opinions, school books with problematic content coming from the host country and used in some UNRWA schools, politicized trade unionists making threats against UNRWA management and disrupting operations” hhumanitarians, according to the independent group.

The agency, which has more than 30,000 employees in the region (Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria), is accused by Israel of employing “more than 400 terrorists” in Gaza. “Based on a March 2024 list containing Palestinian identity numbers, Israel has publicly claimed that a significant number of UNRWA employees are members of terrorist organizations.notes the report, which considers that Israel must still provide the “evidence” that some of its members are allegedly linked to “terrorist organizations”.