The United States‑led Board of Peace (BoP) has declared that the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) will play no role in Gaza, echoing a long‑standing Israeli demand to sideline the organization that serves millions of Palestinians.
The board, tasked with overseeing the “ceasefire” and Gaza’s reconstruction, said on Friday it will only work with partners it deems reliable and capable of meeting the population’s needs – a standard it says UNRWA fails to satisfy.
The move comes as the BoP unveiled a multibillion‑dollar plan on Wednesday aimed at beginning Gaza’s reconstruction, nearly a year after a so‑called “ceasefire” came into effect in the devastated Palestinian territory.
The plan, presented on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), comes as key elements of the “ceasefire” remain stalled, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hamas.
UNRWA was established in 1949 to assist tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes by Jewish militias from areas that now constitute Israel.
BoP’s stance on UNRWA coincides with Israel’s continued offensive in the coastal enclave, where Palestinians face unrelenting attacks, severe aid restrictions, and stalled reconstruction.
What did the Board of Peace say?
The BoP presented a 66‑project reconstruction blueprint on the sidelines of the UNGA, proposing $2.4 bn for projects intended to launch Gaza’s recovery.
UNRWA was omitted from the list of UN agencies the board identified as partners.
“The Board of Peace’s policy regarding UNRWA’s involvement in Gaza remains unchanged,” the BoP said in a post on X on Friday.
“We will only work with trusted partners who will deliver for the people of Gaza and contribute to a deradicalised Strip. UNRWA fails on those litmus tests.”
However, a BoP official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, confirmed that board members have met UNRWA officials several times.
The official said the agency’s programmes could continue if they serve Gaza’s residents well, but maintained that “UNRWA’s days are over”.
What has UNRWA said?
In an indirect response, UNRWA acting Commissioner‑General Christian Saunders said on Friday in Gaza, “UNRWA remains an institution of considerable humanitarian and strategic value, with capabilities and expertise that are difficult to replicate today.”
“To disregard these capabilities at a moment of such profound need is neither logical nor responsible,” Saunders added.
Former UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned on Thursday that removing the agency would have a “devastating” impact on Palestinians.
“They want to get rid of the agency, but on the other hand they know that if you get completely rid of the agency today, it might have a further … devastating impact on the population,” Lazzarini told AP on Friday.
In a separate statement on X, Lazzarini said, “grandiose plans are what the Board of Peace does best”, noting widespread suffering across Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing offensive.
The agency employs about 11,000 Palestinians in Gaza and remains heavily involved in healthcare, education, water and sanitation services. Its exclusion is especially critical given the scale of displacement and ongoing aid restrictions.
UNRWA has for decades provided aid and education services to Palestinians in Gaza, occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon – neighboring countries where Palestinian refugees reside.
What has been Hamas’ response?
Hamas accused the BoP of adopting Israel’s position.
Spokesperson Hazem Qassem on Saturday called the decision to exclude UNRWA “a complete alignment with the Zionist [Israeli] position”, saying it was aimed at ending the agency’s operations, preventing it from delivering aid, and undermining Palestinian refugees’ right of return.
Qassem said it was “strange for the peace council to adopt this hostile stance toward UNRWA while simultaneously failing to provide aid to Gaza or compel the occupation to abide by the ceasefire agreement and halt the daily killings of Palestinians in the Strip”.
Does the Board of Peace toe the Israeli line?
UNRWA
Israel has for years sought to remove UNRWA from Gaza, accusing the agency of being infiltrated by Hamas.
The International Court of Justice, in an advisory opinion in October, said allegations that “a significant part of UNRWA’s employees are ‘members of Hamas … or other terrorist factions’” had not been substantiated.
The BoP’s position reinforces Israeli efforts to dismantle the UN agency.
Hamas disarmament
Hamas and other Palestinian factions agreed in July to a roadmap under which weapons would be surrendered in stages as Israeli forces gradually withdrew. The two processes were explicitly linked.
However, after an August meeting between Nickolay Mladenov, the BoP’s director‑general, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the board said Israeli forces would not withdraw beyond the “Yellow Line” until Hamas’s decommissioning was complete, including “light weapons, heavy weapons, and the tunnels alike”.
Hamas maintains that it will not implement its obligations unless Israel fulfills its own.
Israel currently occupies more than 60 percent of Gaza while most of the territory’s 2.3 million people remain displaced.
Reconstruction
Article 17 of the BoP plan calls for “temporary reconstruction” beginning in areas designated free of Hamas control, including humanitarian compounds for unarmed civilians.
The proposed system would channel reconstruction, aid, and shelter toward areas outside Hamas’s control while Israeli forces remain behind the so‑called “Yellow Line”.
However, Israel has refused to allow the Palestinian technocratic committee into Gaza, open crossings, or begin reconstruction until Hamas is completely disarmed.
After unveiling the reconstruction plan on the sidelines of the UNGA, BoP high representative Mladenov reiterated that the proposed plan depends on Hamas’s disarmament.
What is the situation in Gaza?
Almost a year after the October 2025 ceasefire, reconstruction has yet to begin on any meaningful scale and Israeli forces continue to occupy large parts of the Strip.
At least 1,451 Palestinians have been killed and 4,953 wounded in Israeli attacks since the “ceasefire” began in October 2025, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
The healthcare system is on the verge of “total collapse”, the ministry said last week, with shortages of fuel, medical supplies, and spare parts disrupting hospitals, water, and sanitation services.
The scale of destruction is also immense. More than half of Gaza’s hospitals and clinics remain nonfunctional, less than 1.5 percent of cropland is accessible and undamaged, and reconstruction needs have reached an estimated $71.5 bn.
Nearly 84 percent of Gaza’s population – more than 1.76 million people – are living in displacement sites or damaged and inadequate shelters, the UN has said.
