UNRWA's woes worsen.. hundreds of employees laid off due to "unprecedented financial crisis"

Amidst suffocating funding conditions, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced on Wednesday a difficult decision to terminate the services of hundreds of its local employees.

This step comes as a result of a massive financial deficit and continuous smear campaigns that led to a decline in international donations, placing the UN agency before an existential challenge affecting its ability to care for millions of refugees in the region.

A spokesperson for UNRWA clarified that 571 local employees were informed of the immediate termination of their services.

This category includes employees who left the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the war that erupted in October 2023, as they were unable to perform their duties remotely and continued to receive their salaries until last March before being transferred to involuntary unpaid leave.

The spokesperson indicated that this decision, despite its harshness, will allow those affected to access quick financial resources such as "end-of-service compensation," especially since they have been without income for more than ten months, with no prospect of resuming their work due to field conditions beyond the agency's control.

UNRWA faces a deep financial abyss; the cost of its assigned activities reached about $880 million in 2025, of which it has only received $570 million.

The spokesperson warned that this deficit will extend to threaten the 2026 budget, which could lead to additional cuts in the relief, health, and educational services it provides to refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.

This financial collapse comes at a time when the agency is under severe pressure from the occupation, which has banned its activities on its territory and accused it of supporting "Hamas."

Although international investigations have not provided conclusive evidence for the substantive Israeli accusations, these "systematic campaigns" have succeeded in discouraging donors and reducing their contributions.

It is worth noting that the agency has lost more than 300 employees in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the aggression, and still manages its operations through about 12,000 steadfast employees within the Strip.

The reduction in the number of employees today is a final warning bell to the international community, confirming that the lung through which Palestinian refugees breathe is suffering from systematic financial and political suffocation.