Reflections on UNRWA Schools: Education and Identity

What will it mean for Palestinians if Israel bans Unrwa, the UN agency that provides vital aid and essential services to millions of refugees in Gaza and the West Bank? The proposals have drawn widespread condemnation and warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israeli politicians have accused UNRWA staff of taking part in the 7 October attacks alongside Hamas, and have designated it a terror group. We visit refugee camps across the occupied territories to hear about the role UNRWA plays in education, health and emergency food aid, and people’s despair about the prospect of it disappearing. The agency’s services and dependents have mushroomed over the last 75 years. We look at its origins and why it has long been controversial in Israel.