Turkiye urges UN to protect UNRWA as 'backbone' of Gaza aid

Turkiye has called on the United Nations to safeguard the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), emphasising its critical role in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Turkish representatives described UNRWA as the “backbone” of Gaza’s support system, especially amid escalating violence and humanitarian crises in the region.

Turkiye’s plea comes as UNRWA faces financial difficulties and political pressure, threatening its ability to assist Palestine refugees. Turkish officials stressed that the international community must ensure UNRWA’s continued operation to prevent further destabilisation in Gaza and to protect vulnerable populations.

Israel has spearheaded a campaign to discredit UNRWA and have it closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees. If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.

Read: Israel to seize UNRWA’s Jerusalem headquarters to build settler housing