UNRWA

Palestinian students at an UNRWA school in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, Jan. 30, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Israel claims to care about Palestinian students — so it shuts down their schools

The Education Ministry ordered UNRWA-run schools in East Jerusalem to close, citing ‘student welfare.’ 800 may lose their classrooms this month.

By Gil Gertel May 6, 2025

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, meets with internally displaced people in Rafah during his visit to the Gaza Strip, Dec. 12, 2023 (UNRWA Photo)

‘If UNRWA implodes tomorrow, there’d be no alternative’

Still functioning despite Israel's ban, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini explains how the agency is laying the groundwork for future Palestinian institutions.

By Ghousoon Bisharat and Meron Rapoport February 27, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. president Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC, March 5, 2018. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Trump’s unfinished business for ‘Greater Israel’

From annexation to UNRWA, Trump’s Israel advisors should be taken at their word — and Democrats won’t stand in their way, says Lara Friedman.

By Jonathan Adler November 13, 2024

Latest

Palestinians at the site of an Israeli airstrike at a UNRWA school in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, June 6, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Israel’s paradoxical crusade against UNRWA

Israeli officials are relying on UNRWA to prevent a polio epidemic — while the Knesset advances laws to expel the agency.

By Jonathan Adler October 10, 2024

Palestinians at the site of a destroyed home from an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 22, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Even without a UN veto, Gaza remains hostage to American power

The downplaying of the Security Council’s ceasefire resolution shows why the world can no longer look to Washington as the arbiter of a rules-based order.

By Samer Badawi April 2, 2024

Palestinians seen at the port of Gaza City, June 13, 2019. (Hassan Jedi/Flash90)

‘Armchair humanitarianism’: The problem with Gaza’s maritime aid corridor

While aid is desperately needed, critics warn the U.S.-led plan evades the fundamental cause of Gaza’s starvation: Israel’s total control of the Strip.

By Samer Badawi March 16, 2024

Palestinians at a temporary camp set up for people who evacuated from their homes, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, December 4, 2023. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)

In Gaza ‘safe zone,’ Palestinians are living out their nightmares

Israel ordered thousands to evacuate to the area of Al-Mawasi, where they are struggling to find food, water, and shelter amid the war and winter cold.

By Ruwaida Amer January 4, 2024

Palestinians shelter at a temporary tent camp set up for those who were displaced from their homes by Israel's evacuation orders and airstrikes, Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, October 19, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Inside Gaza’s ‘tent city’ for displaced families

Hundreds of Palestinians are sheltering in a makeshift encampment in Khan Younis, surviving on limited provisions amid Israel's ongoing assault.

By Ruwaida Amer October 23, 2023

A mural in the Jenin refugee camp, West Bank, October 10, 2006. (Anne Paq/Activestills)

Dispelling the myths about Palestinian refugees — in Jenin and beyond

With Israel's Jenin invasion sparking a new round of misinformation, here are the truths behind five hasbara tropes on Palestinian refugees.

By Anne Irfan July 9, 2023

View of an empty school in Nablus, occupied West Bank, during a strike of Palestinian teachers, March 7, 2023. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

Defying PA repression, Palestinian teachers lead biggest strike in years

Amid an economic crisis caused by Israeli policies and PA corruption, teachers are bringing schools and streets to a standstill until their demands are met.

By Basel Adra April 18, 2023

A general strike by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Balata camp, in the West Bank city of Nablus, January 24, 2023. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

UNRWA strike spotlights spiraling conditions in West Bank refugee camps

The protest by workers at the UN agency comes amid funding cuts and escalating pressure to 'eliminate the Palestinian refugee issue.'

By Basel Adra February 14, 2023

Palestinian protesters burn a photo of Bahrain's ruler Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, June 25, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Amid normalization with Israel, what remains of Gulf-Palestine relations?

Gulf states have a complex history of engagement with the Palestinian cause. Now, regional shifts are forcing them to reassess their role.

By Katie Wachsberger February 1, 2022

UNRWA staff members protest against budget cuts outside the UNRWA offices in Gaza City, April 14, 2019. (Hassan Jedi/Flash90)

International law sides with Palestinian refugees. But can it solve their plight?

A new book dives into the myriad laws that protect Palestinian refugees and their right of return. Its proposed solution, though, may be hard to swallow.

By Sam Bahour May 2, 2021