RAMALLAH, October 25, 2026 (WAFA) – The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has categorically rejected any plans to lay off large numbers of employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), warning that the agency’s deepening financial crisis threatens the continuation of its services and its UN mandate.
The committee called for urgent international action to secure sustainable funding for UNRWA, describing the agency as an irreplaceable lifeline for Palestinian refugees and warning that cutting off its funding would jeopardize their rights and threaten regional stability.
The position was announced following a meeting on Sunday evening of the PLO Executive Committee’s higher committee tasked with safeguarding UNRWA’s mandate and operations, held at the Executive Committee’s secretariat in Ramallah.
The participants discussed UNRWA’s worsening financial crisis, the risks posed by the agency’s management considering large-scale layoffs, and possible measures to overcome the challenges and ensure the continuation of its operations and services.
The committee stressed that UNRWA employees are the backbone of the agency and that laying them off would not resolve the financial crisis. Instead, it would threaten the continuation of education, healthcare, relief and social protection services provided to millions of Palestinian refugees, deepen humanitarian and social hardships in refugee camps, and undermine regional stability.
It said funding UNRWA is an international responsibility tied to the agency’s mandate, established by the UN General Assembly under Resolution 302, and to the international community’s obligations toward Palestinian refugees and their rights until a just solution is reached in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, particularly Resolution 194.
The committee called on donor countries to collectively provide adequate, sustainable funding to enable UNRWA to continue its operations and meet its obligations.
It urged UNRWA Acting Commissioner-General to abandon any plans for staff layoffs, suspend related measures, and safeguard employees’ rights and salaries. It also called for exploring available legal and administrative alternatives to address the crisis and engaging constructively with temporary proposals submitted by the PLO Department of Refugee Affairs, the General Conference of Local Staff Unions and experts on UNRWA’s financial situation to protect employees and prevent compulsory layoffs.
The committee called for urgent international action to secure approximately $70 million to meet immediate funding needs and ensure staff salaries are paid for November and December. It said this must be accompanied by broad political and diplomatic efforts to secure adequate, sustainable and predictable funding for the agency.
It also urged the acting commissioner-general to visit donor countries and other relevant states to mobilize financial support and proposed establishing a joint committee comprising representatives of host countries and the PLO to help lead the international funding campaign and coordinate political and diplomatic efforts to ensure UNRWA’s long-term financial sustainability and continued service delivery.
The committee further called on UNRWA’s management to open serious and responsible dialogue with the local staff union and the PLO Department of Refugee Affairs, strengthen coordination with host countries, and adopt a transparent and participatory approach to resolving the crisis rather than taking unilateral decisions that undermine employees’ rights or reduce essential services for refugees.
It condemned the escalation of Israeli military operations in Hebron, citing the forced displacement of around 250 Palestinian families, comprising more than 2,500 people, from their homes in the Jalda and Ain Deir Bahha neighborhoods and areas adjacent to colonies. According to the committee, residents were evacuated at gunpoint and their homes converted into military barracks.
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