Europe Faces UNRWA Test at Gaza Conference

By Staff, Agencies

A high-level Gaza recovery conference opens in Brussels on Monday, where European governments are expected to challenge the Board of Peace's push to sideline the UN Relief and Works Agency [UNRWA], POLITICO reported.

The Palestine Donor Group meeting comes just 11 days after the so-called "Board of Peace" declared that the UNRWA “has no place” in Gaza’s future, a position reinforced a day earlier by US Ambassador for UN Reform Jeffrey Bartos, who labeled the agency “a subsidiary of Hamas.”

In response, the hardline stance has placed the Board squarely at odds with many of the 65 delegations expected in Brussels, including key European states that continue to back UNRWA despite persistent "Israeli" allegations of militant infiltration.

Meanwhile, UNRWA dismissed several staff members following an internal investigation into potential involvement in Operation al-Aqsa flood, while "Israeli" officials continue to claim the agency remains compromised.

However, an independent review commissioned to assess the agency later issued recommendations to strengthen its neutrality but concluded that "Israel" had not provided substantive evidence to back its claims, a finding "Israel" dismissed as insufficient.

Ahead of the talks, Norway reaffirmed that UNRWA is "irreplaceable" ahead of the Brussels conference, where European, Palestinian, and UNRWA officials are expected to defend the agency amid efforts to sideline it.

Beyond the UNRWA dispute, the Brussels conference will focus on Gaza recovery and Palestinian Authority reforms, though questions remain over funding and the role of the so-called "Board of Peace" and its Gaza administration body.

Additionally, Norway said the Brussels conference will also address humanitarian access in Gaza, as divisions grow over aid delivery leadership and recovery efforts.