Publicly, the UN agency wasn’t named as a reconstruction partner. Privately, officials have met with it multiple times — and the agency’s former chief says the door isn’t actually closed.
ONYX NEWS STAFF — DATELINE: JERUSALEM
| 2-MINUTE CONTEXT: The U.S.-created Board of Peace has publicly said there’s no place in Gaza’s reconstruction for UNRWA, the UN agency that has supported Palestinian refugees for decades. Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s chief until March, told the AP in his first interview since stepping down that behind the scenes, board members have been far more open to working with the agency. |
The Gap Between Public and Private
At a Wednesday board briefing, members named various UN agencies as reconstruction partners — but not UNRWA. Behind that public framing, a different picture emerges: another UN official shared with AP the actual minutes from meetings where UNRWA and the Palestinian technocratic committee discussed collaborating on Gaza’s future. A Board of Peace official confirmed on condition of anonymity that board members had met with UNRWA officials multiple times, telling AP that while the agency’s “days are over,” its programs “may persist if they are serving Gazans well.”
Why UNRWA Is Hard to Actually Remove
Despite the public exclusion, UNRWA remains Gaza’s largest aid provider by workforce, with more staff on the ground than any other UN agency or NGO combined. Lazzarini said it props up roughly half of Gaza’s public health system. “If you want the vaccine to end up in the mouths of the children, you still need the workforce, the presence of an agency like ours,” he said.
| “They want to get rid of the agency, but on the other hand they know that if you get completely rid of the agency today, it might have a further additional devastating impact on the population.”— Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, 2020–2026 |
The Allegations Behind the Public Position
Israel has repeatedly accused UNRWA of infiltration by Hamas militants and wants the agency out of Gaza entirely; in January 2024, it alleged over a dozen UNRWA employees took part in the October 7 attack. Lazzarini said he was never provided written evidence for these claims despite requesting it from Israel and UN member states — though he said he doesn’t regret firing the employees who were accused. The International Court of Justice has said Israel’s broader infiltration allegations have not been substantiated. Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to AP’s request for comment on Lazzarini’s account of the private meetings.
| WHERE THINGS STAND | |
| 0 public acknowledgments of UNRWA as a reconstruction partner | Multiple confirmed private meetings between the Board and UNRWA |
| ~50% of Gaza’s public health system UNRWA reportedly supports | ~1 year since the ceasefire, with no reconstruction yet begun |
| WHY THIS MATTERS A documented gap between what an institution says publicly and what its own meeting minutes show privately is a specific, checkable kind of accountability story — not speculation about motive, but a direct comparison between a stated position and a paper trail. |
| WHAT HAPPENS NEXTLazzarini said he plans to publish a book about his UNRWA tenure this year. ONYX will track whether the Board of Peace’s public position on UNRWA shifts as Gaza reconstruction planning continues. |
| SOURCE TRANSPARENCY: Associated Press — exclusive interview with Philippe Lazzarini and review of meeting minutes, September 25, 2026. International Court of Justice — findings on Israel’s infiltration allegations against UNRWA |
