'No alternative to UNRWA': UN chief urges world leaders to support agency

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged world leaders on Thursday to increase support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which provides essential services to nearly 6 million people.

A high-level meeting, co-organized by Jordan and Sweden, in support of UNRWA was held on the margins of the UN General Assembly meetings in New York where Guterres described the situation in the Gaza Strip as "beyond imagination."

"We have failed the people of Gaza. They are in a living hell that somehow gets even worse by the day," he said.

He emphasized that "there is no alternative to UNRWA" and urged all UN member states to "work on all fronts to intensify support for the agency's vital mission."

Guterres said UNRWA "is not a sustainable long-term solution to the plight of Palestine Refugees," and reiterated his demand for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, release of hostages and a two-state political solution between Palestine and Israel with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.

"But until that moment, UNRWA remains indispensable," he said, urging states to provide "full support."

The UN chief said 2 million Palestinians are crammed into a small area, living amid "lakes of sewage, piles of rubbish, and mountains of rubble" and warned that "the only certainty is that tomorrow will be worse."

"Yet if there is any outpost of hope in this hellscape, it is UNRWA," he said.

The agency is facing immense challenges on the operational and political level, according to Guterres, who said that "222 UNRWA colleagues have been killed, many together with entire families, several in the line of duty," and it is "the highest death toll in UN history."

Guterres highlighted Israeli "campaigns that discredit the agency's life-saving work," and noted the decision by Israel's parliament, the Knesset, to classify UNRWA as a terror organization.

"In the face of the catastrophic conditions, UNRWA perseveres," he said.

The UN chief expressed "full confidence in UNRWA's continued commitment to upholding the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and humanity and to implement the recommendations of the Independent Review by Catherine Colonna."

He said UN member states are also displaying the same confidence in the agency.

"Virtually all donors have reversed their funding suspensions," he said. "This underscores the consensus that UNRWA's role across the West Bank and the region is vital."

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa thanked all countries that provide support to UNRWA, and said Israel's attacks on the agency "are all part of a systematic campaign aimed at eliminating" it. "Israel's goals are clear: to negate the legitimate refugee status of millions and their right to return."

He urged member states to not "allow Israel to get away with spreading such lies and incitement, we cannot allow such dangerous precedents."

He highlighted UNRWA's critical role in the Palestinian refugee crisis.

"Since the Nakba, UNRWA has been a lifeline for Palestine refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Today, in Gaza in particular, UNRWA is more than just a service provider, it is a sanctuary standing between life and death for many," he said.

Israel was established in May 1948 on occupied Palestinian lands, displacing more than 750,000 Palestinians in what is known as the Nakba, or the Great Catastrophe.