With Eid celebrations in Gaza concluded amid enormous loss and destruction, the need for humanitarian assistance, especially food and medical supplies, remains urgent and critical. With the world’s attention now focused on the Iran war, Israel’s punishment of the people of Gaza continues, including its cruel imposition of restrictions on the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNWRA.
Recent research by Statista found that: “In Gaza in January 2026, 77 percent of the population is facing high levels of food insecurity; more than half are facing emergency levels, while about 2,000 are facing catastrophic levels.” This situation has worsened, not improved. UNRWA must be freed up to respond to the crisis of hunger and malnutrition afflicting Gazans.
This degradation of UNRWA’s capacities is part of a broader strategy by the Israeli government to choke off humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has included Israel’s banning of nearly 40 NGOs that deliver assistance.
The ban silences the voices of groups that have helped the world understand what is happening in Gaza and opens the door for further militarization and privatization of humanitarian aid. It also eliminates employment of many Palestinians at a time when their households’ financial situation is dire and when local voices are even more crucial in building better aid programming.
Further, the ban violates the responsibilities of an occupying power to meet the basic needs of the population. Moreover, the registration requirements oblige groups to provide detailed personal information on their workers, putting employees in grave danger.
As an expert group of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has said: “The ban is not an isolated act, but part of a systematic assault on humanitarian operations in the occupied Palestinian territory and another step in the deliberate dismantling of Gaza’s lifelines. “
“In Gaza, genocide survivors are battling winter, severe food insecurity, malnutrition and the collapse of the healthcare and education systems in the context of severe environmental harm impact caused by Israeli aggression.”
Israel’s efforts to crush UNRWA must be countered. As he leaves his post, UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini has said: “It is appalling that despite UNRWA’s crucial role, the agency has not been adequately protected by the international community. Instead, it has been allowed to become a proxy battleground in the Israel-Palestine conflict, pronounced guilty until proven innocent.”
The Group of 78 has collaborated with Dr. Ruba Musleh to produce a new Factsheet on UNRWA that addresses concerns about the Agency’s alleged links to Hamas and terrorism. In fact, the evidence from publicly available investigations and reports debunks these claims and instead tells a story of a unique United Nations organization with dedicated employees on the ground who deliver much-needed health, education and development services directly to the Palestinian people in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
UNRWA is not a terrorist organization; it is a humanitarian agency mandated by the United Nations, and its capabilities are needed now more than ever.
The Group of 78 has expressed support for UNRWA on several occasions in the past and is proud to do so again. Working with its European allies, the Canadian government should renew and increase its support of UNRWA and vigorously oppose Israel’s restrictions on the Agency’s operations.
Read the factsheet below