Palestine refugees

Possessions are salvaged from a damaged building in Gaza following Israeli strikes in May.
© OCHA/Mohammad Lubbad

UNRWA chief calls for ‘clear and unequivocal guarantees’ on staff safety in Hamas-controlled Gaza

3 June 2021
Peace and Security

The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has called for “clear and unequivocal guarantees” over the safety and security of staff working to restore critical services in Gaza, following last month’s conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas, which controls the occupied enclave.

Families in Gaza receive food baskets through the UNRWA home delivery programme.
UNRWA/Khalil Adwan

News in Brief 19 May 2021

19 May 2021
News in Brief
  • UNRWA launches $38 million appeal for Palestinians as violence continues
  • Genetically-modified mosquitos, potential anti-malaria asset
  • Global trade back in the back for 1st Quarter of 2021: UNCTAD
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2'42"
UNRWA Students at Rafah Preparatory Girls School “C” are happy to meet their friends after 5 months break.
© 2020 UNRWA./Khalil adwan

UNRWA chief reports on despair and hope among Palestinians, as US announces $150 million in aid

7 April 2021
Migrants and Refugees

Despair is growing in Palestinian refugee camps across the Middle East, but signs of hope are sprouting amid ongoing occupation, economic hardship and the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the UN agency that supports this population reported on Wednesday.

Back-to-school ceremony on 1 September 2020 at the UNRWA Nuzha school in Jordan.
UNRWA/Yazan Fares

UN agency for Palestine refugees runs out of money as COVID-19 spreads

10 November 2020
Humanitarian Aid

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA) has run out of cash on hand to keep vital services going amid the worsening health emergency, UNRWA spokesperson Tamara Alrifai told a regular UN press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

A health worker provides COVID-19 information to a patient visiting the Jerusalem Health Center.
UNRWA/Louise Wateridge

UN agency for Palestinian refugees launches $95 million appeal to keep COVID at bay 

4 September 2020
Humanitarian Aid

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a health and socio-economic emergency across the occupied Palestinian territory, the UN agency for the region warned on Friday, noting a swell of coronavirus cases in recent weeks. 

UNICEF team, including Mohamad Saleh, removing the debris from Medawar street in Qarantina region of Beirut, Lebanon.
UNICEF/Ramzi Haidar

News in Brief 4 September 2020

4 September 2020
News in Brief
  • More support needed to aid Beirut children's return to class
  • Violence could spark new DR Congo mass displacement
  • UNRWA appeal to help Palestine refugees keep COVID at bay
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4'1"
Pierre Krähenbühl, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, speaks at the launch of a major fundraising campaign. He resigned on 6 November, 2019.
UNRWA: Photo by Khalil Adwan

Palestine refugee agency chief resigns amidst mismanagement probe

6 November 2019
UN Affairs

The Commissioner-General for the UN relief and works agency serving Palestine refugees, UNRWA, resigned on Wednesday, hours after the UN announced preliminary findings of an investigation into misconduct allegations.

Women and children live in the remote Al Hol camp, Hasakeh governorate, Syria. (June 2019)
© OCHA/Halldorsson

Wednesday’s Daily Brief: ‘Appalling’ conditions in Syria camp, precarious SDG progress, South Sudan, Palestine refugees and mining in Mongolia

11 September 2019
SDGs

A recap of Wednesday’s top stories: ‘Inhumane conditions’ in Syria’s Al Hol camp worsening; SDG progress risks going backward; food insecurity in South Sudan; Arab League petitioned to support Palestine refugees; and mining in Mongolia should boost development.

Gwyn Lewis, Director of UNRWA Operations in the West Bank (4 June 2019)
UN News/Matthew Wells

Education and basic services for West Bank at risk warns UN refugee relief agency 

6 June 2019
Interviews

Unless more emergency funding is received by the end of this month, the UN relief agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Tuesday that 46,000 children will be unable to start the new school year, along with major cuts to health and other basic services. That’s the warning coming from Gwyn Lewis, Director of UNRWA Operations in the West Bank, who was at UN Headquarters with her counterpart in Gaza, to outline the continuing funding crisis stemming from the United States decision to withdraw support last year. 

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6'37"
Hamam, 5 years, and his sister Sham, 4 years, sit on children's winter clothing kits. The family of 6 are refugees from Syria and came to Jordan six years ago.
© UNICEF/UN0274546/Herwig

News in Brief 29 January 2019

29 January 2019
News in Brief
  • Nearly $4 billion needed to protect 41 million children from conflict and disaster
  • 700 people detained in one day of Venezuela demonstrations, dozens children
  • Palestine refugees more vulnerable now than in year 2000, warns UN agency chief
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4'19"