The plan that the “Peace Council” wants to implement to target the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has been met with widespread Arab and Palestinian condemnation, after the council, which was formed by US President Donald Trump to oversee the management of the situation in the Gaza Strip, according to the ceasefire understandings, announced that there is no place for this international organization in the Strip in the coming period, after it concluded a meeting in the Cypriot capital, in the presence of a number of members of the National Committee for the Management of Gaza.
The Peace Council, “There is no place for UNRWA in the new Gaza. We are turning the page on perpetual dependence on aid and conflict. The people of Gaza deserve better.”
It also shared a post on the same platform from the US Mission to the UN, which stated, “UN member states have two choices: fund incitement, terrorism, and stagnation with pledges to UNRWA, or fund the Peace Council, which is giving the people of Gaza a path to peace and prosperity. History will not forget.”
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) condemned the statements of the “Peace Council” on Thursday, considering its position an attempt to liquidate the refugee issue.
Ahmad Abu Holi, a member of the organization’s executive committee and head of the Refugee Affairs Department, said that the “Peace Council’s” position on UNRWA “represents alignment with the Israeli colonial narrative.”
For its part, Hamas condemned today the position of the “Peace Council in the Gaza Strip” and what was issued by the American administration regarding the future of UNRWA , considering that it is in line with the Israeli policy aimed at undermining the role of the agency.
Hamas said in a press statement that the announcement that there is no place for UNRWA in what it described as “the new Gaza” represents a targeting of the agency, which it considered an international witness to the Nakba of the Palestinian people and an embodiment of international responsibility towards Palestinian refugees.
Hamas added that UNRWA’s mandate “is based on a mandate issued by the United Nations General Assembly,” considering that any “attempt to undermine or replace the agency represents a targeting of international legitimacy and an attempt to liquidate the Palestinian refugee issue, including the right of return.”
Hamas warned against responding to calls to stop funding UNRWA, reduce its mandate, or replace it, stressing that the agency’s continued performance of its humanitarian and relief tasks is an “urgent necessity,” especially in light of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas called on the United Nations, donor countries and the international community to assume their responsibilities and ensure the continued operation of UNRWA and the preservation of its UN mandate.
Arab League: Excluding UNRWA's role in Gaza from the Peace Council is illegal.
The Arab League condemned on Wednesday the statements made by the “Peace Council” regarding the Gaza Strip, in which it called for ending the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Strip. The Peace Council claimed it sought to end what it described as “continued dependence on aid.” The Council added that Palestinians in Gaza “deserve more than that.”
The Arab League said the move “lacks any legal basis.”
This came according to a statement issued by the General Secretariat, from the “Palestine and Occupied Arab Territories Sector” of the League.
The Arab League expressed its “strong condemnation and denunciation” of the Council’s statements, considering them to be based on “political pretexts that lack any legal or humanitarian basis.”
She stressed that “these statements represent a direct attack on the historical and legal rights of Palestinian refugees, in a manner that contradicts the rules of international law and United Nations resolutions.”
She stressed that “UNRWA was established by UN General Assembly Resolution 302 of 1949, and its mandate is renewed periodically by a resolution of the General Assembly, and its role may not be terminated or its mandate diminished.”
The General Secretariat noted that “the continuation of the Agency’s work is closely linked to the continuation of the Palestinian refugee issue, until a just and lasting settlement is reached.”
She pointed to “the indispensable humanitarian role of UNRWA in providing relief, education, health and protection services to millions of Palestinian refugees, especially the residents of the Gaza Strip who are facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemns
Earlier on Wednesday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that UNRWA is “a lifeline, irreplaceable, and a stabilizing factor.”
She emphasized the importance of UNRWA’s role “in protecting and providing relief to Palestinian refugees, and in education, health care, social protection and emergency assistance.”
The ministry also rejected “all terms that attempt to fragment Palestinian geography and demography, such as the term ‘New Gaza,’ which attempts to isolate the Gaza Strip from its natural environment, or the term ‘People of Gaza.’”
She stressed that UNRWA “was established by an international resolution and with a clear mandate, and its work is welcome in the State of Palestine.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on UNRWA to resume its work in the Palestinian territory.
She expressed her rejection of any statements that diminish the agency’s role, “without addressing the root causes of the suffering endured by Palestinian refugees and the Palestinian people.”
She stressed that “the Palestinian people are one people in the Gaza Strip, the (occupied) West Bank, the diaspora, and in all places where they are present. The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the occupied State of Palestine.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on “all countries, institutions and entities to respect UNRWA’s mandate, privileges and immunities under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, which stipulates that UNRWA must be protected by the member states of the United Nations.”
The “Peace Council” is one of the transitional management structures in Gaza, which was approved by the White House on January 16, in addition to the “Gaza Executive Council,” the “National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (the technocratic government),” and the “International Stabilization Force.”
The first meeting of the “Peace Council” on Gaza, chaired by US President Donald Trump, was held on February 19 at the Institute of Peace in Washington.
This step was part of the second phase of Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Israeli war in Gaza, which was backed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 of November 17, 2025.
The plan was reached two years after a genocidal war that Israel began on October 7, 2023, which left more than 73,000 martyrs and more than 173,000 wounded, and caused massive destruction affecting 90 percent of the civilian infrastructure, with reconstruction costs estimated by the United Nations at about $70 billion.
UNRWA was established in 1949 by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly to provide assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operation: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The agency is facing a worsening financial crisis that threatens its ability to continue its services, at a time when millions of Palestinian refugees depend on its programs in education, health care, relief and social services.
UNRWA is also facing increasing Israeli pressure and measures, along with Israeli accusations against some of its employees, which the agency has denied, while the United Nations has affirmed its commitment to the principle of neutrality.
