The Migration and Refugees Forum for the Arab World (MARFA) strongly denounces Israel’s recent decision to ban UNRWA operations in occupied Palestinian territories and label the agency as a terrorist organization. This is a deliberate attack on the rights of Palestinian refugees and an egregious violation of the UN Charter (Article 105), the Convention on Privileges and Immunities, and UN Security Council Resolutions. This move not only blocks essential services—including education, healthcare, and humanitarian aid—for millions of Palestinian refugees across all occupied territories but also seeks to undermine their legal status and rights, particularly the inalienable right of return reaffirmed in UN Resolution 194 and others that followed.
UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, was the first agency established by the United Nations to provide specific protection and assistance to refugees, serving as a cornerstone of the international protection framework. Its services support over 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, underscoring the scale of need and reliance on these essential resources as well as their political rights as a nation in exile. In the West Bank and Gaza alone, UNRWA operates 288 schools that provide education to over 298,000 students, and 30 primary healthcare facilities deliver over 2.5 million patient visits annually.
Israel’s actions threaten to dismantle these critical protections and set a dangerous precedent that jeopardizes global frameworks for refugee support and endangers the principles on which the United Nations was founded. The systematic obstruction of UNRWA reflects Israel’s broader strategy to dismantle protections afforded to Palestinian civilians as well as their status, and their claims to the inalienable right of return, threatening not only Palestinian refugees but also the integrity of the global refugee support system.
In light of this grave infringement of international law, MARFA urgently calls upon the United Nations General Assembly to take decisive action. We urge member states to consider and endorse the several calls of civil society worldwide to reject Israel’s credentials and unseat it from its position in the General Assembly. Furthermore, we call on member states to increase their financial and diplomatic support for UNRWA and to implement economic and diplomatic sanctions against Israel in line with the UN Charter. This necessary yet unprecedented move would send a clear message that international laws protecting refugees and the civil and political rights of Palestinians—and all refugees—cannot be violated with impunity.
We at MARFA stand in solidarity with Palestinian refugees and call upon the global community to defend the sanctity of international protections by supporting the urgent continuation of UNRWA’s mission and upholding the rights of all exiled populations, regardless of political pressures. We implore the General Assembly to act now to protect these principles and to prevent further escalations that risk regional and global stability.
About MARFA
The Migration and Refugee Forum for the Arab World (MARFA) is an independent network of Arab academics, human rights activists, and lawyers that emerged in response to the dire need for a collective approach to championing the rights of migrants and refugees and raising awareness about related pressing issues in the region, including statelessness and the Arab diaspora.
