The Gaza-based Peace Council announced on Wednesday that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will play no part in its vision for a “New Gaza,” outlining plans to transition from traditional aid structures to a revised governance system.
In a statement shared via its X account, the council emphasized ending what it termed “continued dependence on aid,” asserting that “the people of Gaza deserve more.”
The declaration was paired with a video showcasing remarks from U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeff Bartos, who addressed UN member states during a Security Council meeting on Tuesday.
Bartos claimed the UN Security Council had unanimously endorsed the creation of the Peace Council and the National Committee for Gaza’s Administration, framing the decision as a critical juncture: “You now have a choice between funding incitement, terrorism, and stagnation, or funding the Peace Council.”
He argued that backing the Peace Council would offer Gazans “a path toward peace, prosperity, and real, lasting change,” concluding, “The choice is yours, and history will not forget.”
The Peace Council was founded in January under the Gaza post-war reconstruction plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The announcement emerges amid ongoing international discussions about UNRWA’s future. Established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 after the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, the agency began operations in 1950 and currently delivers education, healthcare, social services, and humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
