UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged governments to urgently increase support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), warning that the agency is edging toward collapse under the weight of "Israel's" war on Gaza and mounting financial shortfalls.

"It must be funded urgently, fully, and predictably," Guterres said during the Annual Ministerial Meeting on UNRWA, convened on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. He added that the agency remains indispensable for millions of Palestinians across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

The Secretary-General noted that the crisis in Gaza has placed an unprecedented strain on the agency. "In Gaza, our staff is being killed, our premises destroyed," he said, highlighting the steep human and material cost UNRWA has borne over the past year. Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini confirmed the staggering toll, noting that more than 370 UNRWA employees have been killed since October 2023, making it the single deadliest conflict for UN personnel in the organization's history.

UNRWA Under Siege

The appeal comes against a backdrop of sustained political and financial attacks on the agency. "Israel" has long sought to delegitimize UNRWA, accusing some of its staff of links to Hamas. In early 2024, these claims triggered a wave of funding suspensions by at least 16 donor countries, including the United States, which froze its contributions for a full year. Although an independent UN review found no evidence of systemic infiltration and affirmed that UNRWA has strict neutrality safeguards, Washington has maintained its suspension, creating a massive budget hole. European governments such as Germany, Sweden, and Canada later restored funding, but overall contributions remain insufficient to cover escalating needs.

Beyond the financial crisis, UNRWA employees in Gaza have reported facing harassment and mistreatment by Israeli forces, with dozens of staff who were detained describing beatings, threats, and coerced confessions. At the same time, repeated strikes have damaged or destroyed UNRWA schools and shelters, undermining its ability to provide even the most basic services to displaced families.

Read more: UNRWA details harrowing abuse of Gaza aid workers in Israeli detention

Refugee Lifeline

For Palestinians, UNRWA is not simply another aid agency but their main lifeline, providing food, medical care, and education to over 5.9 million registered refugees. The loss or further weakening of the agency would deepen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, where famine, disease, and mass displacement are spreading rapidly under siege conditions.

As Guterres stressed, UNRWA's survival now hinges on whether donors will step up with predictable, multi-year funding. Without it, the agency risks being hollowed out just when Palestinians need it most.