Gaza Herald – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees is advancing austerity measures that include dismissing thousands of employees across its five operational areas under the guise of a financial crisis. This move has sparked widespread concerns regarding the rights of workers and the level of services provided to millions of Palestinian refugees.
Observers speaking to Quds News Network describe these actions not merely as administrative decisions to address budget deficits, but as a path threatening to empty the agency of its staff and reduce its service presence. These changes impact education, health, and relief sectors, weakening the agency’s role linked to Palestinian refugee rights.
These fears followed statements by Acting Commissioner-General Christian Sanders during a meeting in Amman, Jordan. The gathering brought together UNRWA regional directors and the Supreme Committee for Monitoring UNRWA Affairs, an entity stemming from the Palestine Liberation Organization. Sanders discussed the financial crisis forcing staff dismissals.
Kanaan Al-Jamal, head of the UNRWA file at the PLO, described the meeting as a heated battle. He stated that agency management explicitly informed attendees of plans to dismiss thousands of workers in various operational zones. Al-Jamal noted that management repeatedly cites the financial crisis to justify decisions, despite the agency surviving more severe past crises without similar measures against staff.
Al-Jamal argued the current crisis has political dimensions, viewing management as treating employees as the weakest link to bear deficit burdens rather than seeking new funding sources or expanding the donor base. He highlighted insufficient pressure on Israel regarding attacks on UNRWA facilities and staff killings in Gaza.
He accused the agency and the UN of complicity against the refugee cause due to inadequate responses to occupation targeting institutions. Al-Jamal referenced post-October 2023 events where twelve employees were condemned following an investigation cooperating with Israel, claims he deemed baseless and part of a strategy to undermine international trust and funding.
Pressure extended to cutting services to headquarters in December 2025 and influencing the Palestinian Authority to transfer UNRWA services to local authorities or host countries like Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. Al-Jamal warned this gradual transfer aims to dismantle the agency’s mandate under Resolution 302.
In Gaza, impacts are severe among ten thousand employees. Abdulaziz Abu Suweih, deputy head of the UNRWA Employees Union in Gaza, criticized management for shifting crisis results onto staff through dismissals instead of securing additional funding. He noted the withholding of hazard allowances during the war and failure to protect rights of over four hundred martyred employees.
Abu Suweih stated eighteen employees were dismissed following Israeli incitement without evidence, eight of whom were reinstated after investigations proved allegations false. In early 2025, over six hundred employees stationed in Egypt were fired for being outside Gaza, despite remote work arrangements, creating service shortages without replacements.
The agency recently decided to permanently confirm these dismissals, exacerbating service gaps in a region desperately needing expanded support and strengthened workforce presence rather than reduction.
This report was produced in the Gaza Herald newsroom.
