Refugee Committee Rejects Excluding UNRWA from Gaza Reconstruction

The Joint Committee for Refugees in the Gaza Strip rejected the exclusion of UNRWA from relief, recovery, and reconstruction mechanisms, stressing the need for its official involvement in planning, implementation, and follow-up. It emphasized that rebuilding refugee camps is an essential part of any plan and called on Palestinian leadership and donor countries to protect the agency's role and provide necessary support.

The Joint Committee for Refugees in the Gaza Strip, in a statement issued Thursday, rejected the exclusion of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from meetings and mechanisms related to relief, recovery, and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. The committee stressed the need for the agency's official involvement in planning, implementation, and follow-up of all phases of recovery and reconstruction, emphasizing that rebuilding refugee camps, homes, infrastructure, and services must be an essential part of any reconstruction plan, ensuring aid and services reach refugees, displaced persons, and affected individuals, and preventing duplication or gaps in humanitarian work. It also rejected using any new arrangements regarding Gaza to marginalize UNRWA's role or undermine its UN mandate, stressing that Palestinian refugees' rights and cause cannot be subject to temporary arrangements related to the sector's administration or reconstruction. The committee called on Palestinian leadership, donor countries, and international institutions to protect UNRWA's role and provide necessary political and financial support, emphasizing the importance of its continued work in providing services to Palestinian refugees. It also stressed the need for Palestinian refugees and their representative institutions to have a real and effective presence in decision-making regarding Gaza's future, especially files related to relief, recovery, and reconstruction.