At least 165 UNRWA employees have been killed since October 2024. 

Qatar has condemned Israel’s attempt to dismantle the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and to classify it as a “terrorist organisation”.

This attempt is “an extension of the systematic campaign aimed at dismantling the agency at a time when the need for its humanitarian services is dire due to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip,” a statement from Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Israel has accused UNRWA employees of taking part in the surprise Hamas attacks on October 7, but has not presented any credible evidence to support its claim. Several independent investigations have debunked Israel’s accusations as unfounded.

Qatar called on the international community to take a firm stance “in the face of Israeli plans aimed at liquidating the agency”, noting that the move by Israel will deprive millions of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon of accessing UNRWA’s necessary services.

Neighbouring country Saudi Arabia also condemned Israel’s plan, stressing that UNRWA employees are doing their duty to alleviate “the humanitarian catastrophe” that the Palestinians are currently experiencing under Israeli occupation and its aggression on the Gaza Strip.

“The kingdom stresses that Israel, as an occupying state, must abide by international law and international humanitarian law and stop obstructing the work of international organisations,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry expressed.

Last month, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, progressed a bill to revoke UNRWA’s immunity and privileges.

The bill, known as the United Nations Immunities and Privileges Ordinance, alleges that UNRWA’s education system supports “terrorism and hatred”.

The bill passed the initial vote 42-6 and must go through councils and three other votes before becoming law.

UNRWA, headquartered in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem, has repeatedly denied Israel’s allegations.

The body was established by a UN resolution in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to Palestinians who became refugees following the ethnic cleansing campaign by Zionist paramilitaries a year earlier.

Since October, at least 165 UNRWA employees have been killed while in the line of duty, according to an investigation by the organisation. 

More than 150 UNRWA facilities were targeted and destroyed, including dozens of schools.