In every sphere of activity in which Israel’s government operates, it does so in a thuggish and mindless manner. Nuance, subtlety, restraint, consideration, and weighing options are just not in its vocabulary. The immorality of this approach is obvious and in the long term self-defeating, leaving the country living by the sword, with fewer friends, and constantly losing public sympathy.

The latest episode in this long-running series of acts of sheer folly took place last week when the government sent its enforcers, accompanied by security forces, to demolish the headquarters of UNRWA, the UN agency that since 1949 has been in charge of providing services for the well-being and protection of Palestinian refugees until a just resolution of the question of Palestine is found.

This is an Israeli government that tries to conceal its true intentions and incompetence with performative politics. Does it really believe that if UNRWA ceases to exist, the Palestinian refugees will disappear with it, and that their political, human, and civil rights will no longer exist? Israel blames UNRWA for perpetuating the Palestinian right of return by granting refugee status to successive generations. However, it is not UNRWA that perpetuates the right of return; it is their legal right in line with international law and UN General Assembly Resolution 194, for instance, which states that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return.”

Mistakenly, negotiations over the issue of refugees were framed as addressing the right of return rather than how to translate this right into practical terms that would avoid a mass return leading to new difficulties. The right of return is recognized under international law, and hence not negotiable as such. UNRWA is not the custodian of this right — international law is. Years of negotiations to translate this right into practice have yielded a number of plans for workable solutions, including trade-offs for those who will not return, such as becoming citizens of a Palestinian state, becoming citizens of their current host countries, and compensation for their loss and suffering.

Destroying the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem will not make the Palestinian refugees and their rights go away. It is a mere act of vandalism, which activated a piece of legislation passed in the Knesset in October 2024, barring the agency from operating in Israeli territory and curtailing its activities in Gaza and the West Bank by banning state authorities from having any contact with it. In addition, late last year, in another act of harassment, a law prohibiting the provision of electricity or water to facilities owned by or operated on behalf of UNRWA passed its third and final reading in the Knesset. This was another Pyrrhic victory, which appeals to the current government’s electoral base that has been fed endless lies about the objectives and operations of this UN agency, leading the base to believe that it is hostile to Israel.

Awareness among Israelis of the humanitarian nature of the organization and its contribution to the well-being of millions of Palestinians, to whose plight Israel has been a major contributor for so many decades, is almost nonexistent. By declaring all-out war on UNRWA, Israel gets closer to a moment of reckoning when it must demonstrate that it has found an alternative humanitarian instrument to the UN agency.

Demolition of the UNRWA headquarters is both a physical and symbolic manifestation that Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are simply not interested in peace. 

Yossi Mekelberg

Unquestionably, UNRWA is at a crossroads. However, the answer to whether it stays or goes should be given by the international community, not by Israel. In December last year, 151 countries supported renewing the agency’s mandate for three years. On the face of it, this was an overwhelming vote of confidence in the work of the organization — support that was earned not only by sweat but also by blood since the war in Gaza has cost the agency the lives of 382 of its personnel and others supporting its activities.

Nevertheless, as important as extending the mandate is, it has not been matched by allocating adequate long-term funding to meet the growing needs of the 5.9 million Palestinian refugees eligible for UNRWA’s services, which include health, education, protection, relief, and social services, as well as microfinance. Last year, the agency secured £1.4 billion. However, in light of the surge in humanitarian needs, it needs almost double this amount — a shortfall with grave consequences for refugees.

Moreover, international political support is needed while Israel is harassing and bullying the agency and its staff, but this backing is half-hearted. Israel replaced the UN flag with the Israeli flag over the demolished headquarters in Jerusalem, but it has not come up with an alternative in terms of budget and a qualified workforce to supply the services that UNRWA has been providing, despite the fact that the UN did not create the refugee problem in the first place, and it is not the UN that has occupied Palestinian territories since 1967.

It is not beyond the current Israeli government to take actions that would deliberately cause the situation in the West Bank to explode, and then use that as an excuse for further oppression on its march to annexation. In this case Israel’s distorted logic would mean eliminating UNRWA and exacerbating the humanitarian situation. Consequently, armed resistance becomes more likely, resulting in a harsh response in terms of using military force, building more settlements, and taking further steps toward making the life of Palestinians even more unbearable.

Eliminating UNRWA’s capacity as a service provider is an act of brutality directed at Palestinians, but also an act of self-harm by Israel, especially given the lack of a viable alternative. It is morally bankrupt to deprive millions of people under your control access to the most basic needs; it is also a recipe for unrest that risks pushing the population, especially the young, into the hands of the radicals while alienating those who want to live in peace with Israel. Demolition of the agency’s headquarters is both a physical and symbolic manifestation that Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are simply not interested in peace, if anyone needed further evidence.

Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg