In Gaza, hundreds of thousands of civilians, predominantly women and children, have been displaced and are facing threats of starvation and fatal illnesses. NP was one of over 50 national organizations that signed a letter to President Biden, calling on him to advocate for the protection of civilians in the conflict in the Occupied Gaza Strip by reinstating funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

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Mr. President:

We are non-governmental organizations supporting the protection of civilians in the conflict in the Occupied Gaza Strip and writing to urge you to restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

After nearly four months of conflict which has devastated Gaza’s infrastructure and dangerously reduced essential supplies, hundreds of thousands of civilians – the vast majority of them children and women – are displaced and at grave risk of starvation and deadly disease. UNRWA is the most significant direct provider of humanitarian aid in the territory, with more than two million Palestinian civilians relying on it for critical necessities and services. UNRWA and its staff have gone to heroic lengths to continue aid operations even after catastrophic damage to many of its facilities and the death of more than 150 of their colleagues since the start of the current hostilities.

Twelve individuals among the 13,000 people UNRWA employed in the territory at the start of the current fighting are accused of taking part in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. UNRWA, which has categorically and repeatedly condemned the attack, swiftly terminated the contracts of those accused. UNRWA’s Commissioner-General has requested the investigation of these employees be overseen by the highest investigative authority at the UN, while the UN Secretary General made it clear the Secretariat will cooperate with a competent authority to prosecute the individuals. This is in addition to UNRWA’s January 17, 2024 announcement that it is commissioning an independent review of staff guidelines and procedures to ensure that all staff adhere to humanitarian principles.

Continuing to suspend assistance to UNRWA for the alleged actions of individuals that UNRWA itself condemns and has pledged to help investigate is not only unjust, but detrimental to your administration’s goal of ending the current humanitarian crisis. Denying resources to UNRWA will only deepen the deprivation faced by civilians in Gaza, helping to spread rather than fight starvation and disease.

We therefore urge you to immediately restore US funding to UNRWA and to work with it and other aid agencies to urgently end the growing humanitarian catastrophe in the territory.

Signé,

Action Corps
Alliance of Baptists
Comité de service des Amis américains 
Américains pour la paix maintenant
Amnesty International États-Unis
Brooklyn For Peace
Carolina Peace Center 
Centre pour les civils en situation de conflit (CIVIC)
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center for International Policy
Centre pour la non-violence juive
Centre pour les victimes de torture
Charity & Security Network
Service mondial de l'Église
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
CommonDefense.us
Demand Progress Education Fund
La démocratie pour le monde arabe maintenant (DAWN)
Église évangélique luthérienne d'Amérique (ELCA)
Extend
Freedom Forward 
Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
Centre mondial pour la responsabilité de protéger
Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disicples of Christ) and United Church of Christ
Grassroots International
Humanité et inclusion
Réseau international d'action de la société civile (ICAN)
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
Une politique étrangère juste
MADRE
Bureau Maryknoll pour les questions mondiales
Mennonite Centeral Committee U.S.
Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC)
Migrant Roots Media
Projet de paix du Minnesota
MPower Change 
National Council of Churches
National Iranian American Council (NIAC)
New Hampshire Peace Action
Force de paix non violente
Action pour la paix 
Église presbytérienne (États-Unis), Bureau du témoignage public
RootsAction.org
Familles du 11 septembre pour des lendemains paisibles
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team
Sojourners
L'Église épiscopale
L'Institut Tahrir pour la politique du Moyen-Orient (TIMEP)
Truman Center for National Policy
Association unitarienne universaliste
Unis pour la paix et la justice
UNRWA USA National Committee
Gagner sans guerre
Femmes pour la transparence du commerce des armes
World BEYOND War
Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation 
Zomia Center