Published On 11/12/2025
|
Last update: 03:59 (Mecca time)
Reuters quoted two sources it described as informed that officials in the administration of US President Donald Trump are holding discussions at an advanced stage regarding imposing terrorism-related sanctions on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which raises serious legal and humanitarian concerns within the US State Department.
It was not immediately clear if what Current US discussions have focused on imposing sanctions on the entire agency, or only on specific UNRWA officials or parts of its operations, and it does not appear that officials The Americans settled on a specific type of sanctions.
The two sources said that among the possibilities discussed by US State Department officials was declaring UNRWA a “foreign terrorist organization,” but it is not clear if what This was the choice – which would cause… UNRWA’s severe financial isolation – still under serious consideration.
The two sources with direct knowledge of UNRWA discussions expressed a variety of humanitarian and legal concerns, given the agency’s unique role in assisting displaced Palestinians.
The two sources added that employees appointed on political grounds in the US State Department – appointed since the beginning of Trump’s term – are generally the ones leading the push to impose terrorism-related sanctions on UNRWA.
They stated that many professional State Department employees, including some lawyers responsible for drafting the language of classification decisions, resisted this trend.
Any sweeping move against the entire organization could overwhelm refugee relief efforts and cripple UNRWA, which is already facing a funding crisis.
disappointment
Imposing sanctions on UNRWA for terrorism-related reasons would be shocking and unusual, as the United States is a member state and host country of the United Nations, which established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in 1949.
William Deere, director of UNRWA’s Washington office, said the agency would be “disappointed” if US officials were actually discussing designating it a foreign terrorist organization. He added that this step would be “unprecedented and unjustified.”
Dery added, “Since January 2024, 4 independent bodies have investigated the neutrality of UNRWA, including the US National Intelligence Council. They all reached the same conclusion, although this happened at different times and from different points of view, which is that UNRWA is an indispensable neutral humanitarian body.”
In response to a request for comment, a US State Department official described UNRWA as “a corrupt organization with a proven track record of aiding and abetting terrorists,” and said, “Everything is on the table. No final decisions have been made yet.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment. The US State Department and other ministries have multiple sanctions options that generally allow them to freeze assets and impose travel bans targeting specific individuals and entities.
Dozens of the United States’ largest allies contribute to funding UNRWA, which raises questions about whether… what Foreign officials might face sanctions for their support of the agency if Washington decided to impose Sanctions against it or one of its officials on the basis of terrorism-related allegations.
UNRWA operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, providing aid and services related to education, health and social care, as well as providing shelter to millions of Palestinians.
Senior officials at the United Nations and the UN Security Council describe UNRWA as the backbone of the humanitarian response and provision of aid in Gaza, where the Israeli aggression over two years has caused an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
The Trump administration accuses the agency of links to Hamas, accusations that UNRWA has strongly refuted.
Washington has long been the largest donor to UNRWA, but it suspended its funding in January 2024 after Israel accused about a dozen of the agency’s employees of participating in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.