United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East |
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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was established to provide
assistance to Palestinian refugees. The UNRWA defined a Palestinian refugee as someone who was normally resident in Palestine
between June 1946 and May 1948, and who lost their home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.
See Palestinian refugee for more details and a discussion of
the treatment of descendants.
All Palestinian refugees who are registered with UNRWA and are in need of assistance are eligible for help from UNRWA. In
2004, there were 4 million registered Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA. [1]
UNRWA provides facilities in 59 recognized refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Together these camps house approximately one-third of all registered Palestinian refugees. It also
provides facilities in other areas where large numbers of registered Palestinian refugees live outside of recognized camps. In
order for a camp to be recognized by UNRWA, there must be an agreement between the host government and UNRWA governing use of the
camp.
Services provided by UNRWA include health care, schools, and distribution of food and clothing aid.
99% of UNRWA's 23,000 employees are locally-recruited Palestinians.
Allegations against UNRWA in aiding armed militants
Israeli officials have regularly accused UNRWA of operating outside its charter by
supporting, knowingly or not, the Palestinian terrorist organizations including Hamas.
They allege that UNRWA facilities, such as schools, hospitals, offices and ambulances, are used as training areas and shelter by terrorists. UNRWA always denies such charges, maintaining
that the the tensions with Israel are caused by frequent complaints made by UNRWA against Israel's own behavior. For its part,
UNRWA frequently accuses Israel of hampering its humanitarian work and sometimes makes more serious charges such as of the IDF
shooting at ambulances. Israel usually denies such charges or cites military necessity.
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