Jorgen Jensehaugen, a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), emphasises that UNRWA has long been regarded as the “backbone of the humanitarian operation” across the region.
Jorgen Jensehaugen, a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo , emphasises that UNRWA has long been regarded as the “backbone of the humanitarian operation” across the region.Established in 1949, UNRWA has been central to the welfare of Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. / Photo: AA
UNRWA is “probably the most important actor on the ground, in terms of providing shelter, in terms of setting up camps, in terms of providing food aid, in terms of providing healthcare,” Jensehaugen said in an interview. “They have the deconfliction apparatus, the warehouses, the staff on the ground, and the distribution networks,” he explained.
The agency’s headquarters would be forced to close, international staff would be withdrawn, and schools in refugee camps would shut down, he explained.A possible transition could involve moving Palestinian students into Israeli schools, but Jensehaugen warned that losing UNRWA's leadership would cripple operations in the rest of Palestine.
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