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UNRWA

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that operates for the benefit of Palestinian refugees.

Having been founded in 1949, UNRWA is the only UN refugee agency dedicated to a specific area and refugee crisis. 

The organization continues to operate in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, providing humanitarian aid and education for Palestinians.

However, UNRWA has also come under fire for a number of controversies, such as those who claim it creates dependency rather than resettling refugees and others who claim it promotes antisemitism and incitement against Israel in its educational programs.

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 Ayelet Samerano, mother of Yonatan Samerano who was murdered on October 7, confront UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini in Switzerland. August 1, 2024.

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MK Dan IIlouz

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 Ayman Nejmeh's Facebook profile - before and after removing his involvement in UNRWA.

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 A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA following an Israeli raid in Gaza City, on July 12, 2024.

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 AN UNRWA healthcare clinic in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip: Although UNRWA is technically an offshoot of the United Nations, it functions largely as a Palestinian organization, one that has been infiltrated and compromised by Hamas, the writer argues.

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 UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini attends a briefing on the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian Territory at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2024.

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 THE SIGN on UNRWA Headquarters in Gaza City is damaged amid the ongoing war. Says the writer: This UN agency deserves every sanction – it is corrupt, its actions encouraged terror and some of its workers were directly involved in October 7. Yet it provides health, education, etc.

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 Palestinians at the site of an Israeli airstrike in an UNRWA school, in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, on June 6, 2024

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