The video conference was organized by UNRWA USA, the American non-profit organization that supports the organization through advocacy and fundraising. UNRWA USA Executive Director Mara Kronenfeld opened the briefing by saying the goal was to make clear that UNRWA “is still on the ground” in Gaza and the West Bank, despite what she described as “the Netanyahu government’s insidious efforts to systematically prevent UNRWA from continuing its lifesaving humanitarian work.”
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A Palestinian boy walks near an UNRWA school hosting displaced persons, which was hit during an overnight Israeli attack in Gaza City, July 5, 2025. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
Bill Deere, director of UNRWA in Washington, said “press reports appear to be true” that the government is considering designating the organization as a foreign terrorist organization.
“This would be unprecedented for a UN agency to consider. It is certainly baseless,” Deere said, claiming that “four separate independent investigations” dispute Israel’s claims regarding UNRWA’s workforce.
Deere urged congressional offices to respond strongly.
“You can express your displeasure loudly,” Deere said, arguing that the consequences would extend beyond UNRWA and set a precedent that would impact the broader UN system.
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A truck, marked with the logo of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, November 27, 2023. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)
“If they go ahead and do this, our recourse on this is limited,” he said, adding that one step that could be taken is that “Congress could override the nomination.”
During the meeting, UNRWA field leaders discussed conditions and operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
Sam Rose, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, told participants that international personnel were not entering Gaza due to Israeli Knesset legislation, and that operations were managed remotely.
Rose said that despite claims that UNRWA has been blocked, the organization’s services in Gaza have not stopped for a single day, pointing to basic health care, education, water and sanitation, shelter operations and the use of UNRWA facilities as emergency shelters.
Rose also described the agency’s ability to implement programs that do not rely on immediate deliveries.
“Cash assistance and job creation programs can also continue,” he said, adding, “we are able to operate at scale.”
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United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Gaza, June 2023. (Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Roland Friedrich, introduced as Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank, described UNRWA’s scope in the area, including education, health and aid programs. He said UNRWA provides support to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, including assistance that can be “cash support,” along with other forms such as food stamps and social protection payments.
Friedrich also described “cash rent” assistance for displaced people, arguing that UNRWA’s presence plays a stabilizing role in several countries in the region.
The officials also discussed solutions that would allow UNRWA to continue operating under restrictions.
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Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) holds a press conference in Jerusalem, October 27, 2023. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Rose said UNRWA was still able to receive fuel and that some coordination took place through third parties, describing indirect involvement in UN channels. He said fuel could run power generators and water pumps and stressed the importance of keeping basic services running.
As for aid flows, Rose said Israel was reporting truck numbers as high as 600 per day, and he said he had no reason to doubt the total count. At the same time, he argued that the mix of goods coming in had changed, with commercial deliveries playing a greater role while certain humanitarian goods remained restricted to UN agencies. He described what he called a two-tier system, where some items blocked for UN use could come in through private channels.
In addition to the operational discussion, the briefing included explicit advocacy focused on congressional offices.
Kronenfeld urged participants to support legislation described at the meeting as the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2025, and she thanked offices that already supported efforts to restore U.S. funding, describing the United States as historically UNRWA’s largest donor before funding ended in 2024.
“UNRWA participates in briefings organized by the UNRWA USA National Committee and attended by bicameral groups of Republican and Democratic Capitol Hill staff, as well as think tanks and non-governmental organizations. Briefings such as these are important opportunities for the Agency to respond to the Government of Israel’s ongoing disinformation campaign, which suggests that UNRWA is no longer actively working in Gaza. The opposite is true. Every day, UNRWA employees provide critical services in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In fact, a recent letter states that To the US Government Accountability Office, UNRWA thanked President Trump for negotiating the ceasefire, which will allow the world to focus on the future of Gaza.
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Palestinians protest outside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza City against the reduction in food aid to refugees, June 20, 2023. (Majdi Fathi/TPS)
Deere added: “In Gaza, UNRWA medical staff provide 40 percent of primary health care and play a critical role in distributing water, promoting public health through immunization campaigns, pest control, nutritional screenings and solid waste disposal. UNRWA is also leading the way in education in Gaza, ramping up its ‘back to learning’ programme, with almost 70,000 children now accessing the in-person learning activities of the Gaza Strip. Agency. The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is also a challenging area to work in, especially given the various laws passed by the Israeli Knesset, and policymakers are always interested to hear firsthand the impact of these laws from our experts.
