Statement by BADIL and GPRN “Dismantling UNRWA: “The Board of Peace” Agenda” by BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, July 2026)

As the Israeli regime’s genocide in Gaza continues, alongside the mass forcible displacement of Palestinians across the West Bank and the systematic destruction of UNRWA’s headquarters in Jerusalem and hundreds of its installations. BADIL Resource Center and Global Palestinian Refugee Network categorically reject recent political remarks made by UNRWA Commissioner-General ad interim Chris Saunders at the UNRWA Pledging Conference suggesting that UNRWA’s mandate should be subordinated to externally imposed political arrangements, including the so-called “Board of Peace”, or that its responsibilities could be transferred to host countries or the Palestinian Authority.

At the very moment that the Israeli regime, with the support of the United States, is pursuing the dismantlement of UNRWA in violation of international law, there can be no accommodation of political projects designed to facilitate its replacement.