AMMAN: The chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Wednesday called for urgent funding and the renewal of the agency’s mandate to protect millions of Palestinian refugees “pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.”

“Later today in New York, Member States will vote on the renewal of UNRWA’s mandate at the General Assembly’s Fourth Committee, before voting in December in a plenary session,” UNWRA chief Philippe Lazzarini said.

“We hope that the result of the vote will reflect the overwhelming solidarity of people across the world with Palestine Refugees and UNRWA,” he added at a gathering of the agency’s advisory commission in Amman. He nonetheless noted that the renewal of the mandate is “not sufficient,” noting that it “must come with adequate funding for the Agency’s public-like services, and a delineation of its role in political plans for the occupied Palestinian territory.”

“To do otherwise risks the rights, lives and future of millions of Palestine Refugees.” “Virulent disinformation has not only tarnished the agency’s reputation — it has strangled funding,” he added, noting that UNRWA faced a shortfall of $200 million between the final quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.

Israel has accused it of providing cover for Hamas militants, claiming that some of the agency’s employees took part in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel which sparked the war in Gaza. A series of investigations found some “neutrality-related issues” at UNRWA, but stressed Israel had not provided conclusive evidence for its headline allegation.

Lazzarini said that the agency remains functional in Gaza, however he noted that “over 380 of our colleagues have been killed” in the territory, while “more than 300 premises have been damaged or destroyed.” In January, Israeli legislation came into force banning the agency’s activities. Due to the annexation, the law applies to east Jerusalem but not to the rest of the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

Established in 1949, UNRWA serves about 5.9 million Palestinian refugees residing in the Palestinian territories or in neighboring countries.