UN extends Palestinian refugee mission until 2023

Troubled agency faced funding issues after US halted $360m aid last year

A combination picture shows nurses treating a child at a UNRWA health centre for Palestinian refugees in Beirut, Lebanon, in this handout picture believed to be taken in 1952 and a Palestinian refugee girl receives a vaccination at a UNRWA clinic at Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, June 23, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows Palestinians walking in Nuweimeh camp near Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in this undated handout photo and Palestinians walking in the deserted Nuweimeh camp near Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 17, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows students attending a lesson inside a classroom in Jabal el-Hussein camp in Amman, Jordan, in this handout photo believed to be taken in 1971 and schoolchildren attending a lesson in a classroom at one of the UNRWA schools at Jabal el-Hussein Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan, September 29, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows Palestinian boys posing for a photo in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in this undated handout photo and Palestinian boys posing for a photo in front of a section of the Israeli barrier in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 19, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows a Palestinian woman holding a child at UNRWA's health centre in Rafah camp in the southern Gaza Strip, in this handout photo believed to be taken in 1969 and a Palestinian woman holding a child at UNRWA's health centre in Rafah camp in the southern Gaza Strip, September 3, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows Palestinian school girls waiting in line to collect UNRWA prepared food parcels during the first intifada in the Gaza Strip in this handout picture believed to be taken in 1988 and Palestinian school girls waiting in line to collect snacks in a UNRWA-run school in the Gaza Strip, September 2, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows newly displaced Palestinian refugees walking after fetching potable water in Al-Shati (Beach) refugee camp in Gaza City, in this handout picture believed to be taken in 1953 and Palestinian women walking after fetching potable water in Al-Shati (Beach) refugee camp in Gaza City, September 10, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows a nurse posing with a Palestinian baby at the Gaza Vocational Training Centre in the Gaza Strip, in this handout picture believed to be taken in 1967 and a nurse holding a Palestinian baby in a UNRWA-run health center in the Gaza Strip, September 4, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows young women playing basketball at the Women's Activity Centre in Qalandia in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in this undated handout photo and Palestinian school girls playing basketball at UNRWA's Qalandia school in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 17, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows Palestinian refugee girls pushing their belongings in prams and carts as they flee Jaffa in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war in this handout picture believed to be taken in 1948 and a boy riding a bicycle on a street in Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, September 19, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows a Palestinian woman feeding a child at UNRWA's rehydration/nutrition centre in Ein El Sultan camp in Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in this handout picture believed to be taken in 1960s and a Palestinian woman feeding a child at Ein El Sultan camp in Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 17, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows Palestinian refugee students playing in their schoolyard in Amman New camp, Jordan, in this handout picture believed to be taken in 1969 and Palestinian refugee schoolchildren playing at one of the UNRWA schools in Amman New camp (al Wehdat), in Amman, Jordan, September 26, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows a doctor examining a child in Baqaa camp, near Amman, Jordan, in this handout picture believed to be taken in 1969 and a doctor examining a child at a health center at Baqaa Palestinian refugee camp, near Amman, Jordan, September 29, 2019. REUTERS

A combination picture shows Palestinian refugees sitting inside their tent in the newly formed Ein El Hilweh refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, in this handout picture believed to be taken in 1948 and an elderly Palestinian man sitting with his wife standing behind him, poses for photo inside their house at the Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon, southern Lebanon, September 24, 2019. REUTERS

The United Nations overwhelmingly voted to extend the work of its Palestinian refugee agency for another three years on Friday, despite fierce opposition from the United States and Israel.

The current mandate was due to run out in June 2020 but 169 countries approved a renewal up to 2023 at the UN General Assembly, with the Americans and Israelis voting against and nine countries abstaining.

The resolution approved on Friday "all donors to continue to strengthen their efforts to meet the anticipated needs of the agency" amid deteriorating socio-economic conditions in Palestine.

In a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, President Mahmoud Abbas praised the vote as a victory for international law and the rights of the Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA, which was established in 1949, provides education, health and relief services as well as housing and microfinance assistance to more than 5 million registered refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

US President Donald Trump's administration, along with Israel, accuses UNRWA of perpetuating the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The agency disputes that and says the services it provides would otherwise not be available to Palestinians.

The agency has faced budgetary difficulties since last year, when the United States – its biggest donor – halted its aid of $360 million (Dh1.32 billion) a year. The United States and Israel have both accused UNRWA of mismanagement and anti-Israeli incitement.

Hardline Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, hailed the UN vote as a defeat for the United States and a failure of its attempts to pressure UN member-states against UNRWA.

"We welcome the decision to renew the international mandate to UNRWA and we see it as another failure [for] hostile US policies [towards] Palestinian rights," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

The renewal comes at a time when the head of the troubled organisation resigned in November amid an internal probe into alleged mismanagement and ethical abuses.

An internal ethics report has alleged mismanagement and abuses of authority at the highest levels of the agency.

Last month UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl resigned amid an investigation. Mr Krahenbuhl has denied wrongdoing and said his agency was the victim of a political campaign designed to undermine it.

Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium suspended payments to UNRWA over the inquiry, deepening the budget crisis set off last year by the United States. UNRWA hopes the management shake-up will help pacify donors, said a source with knowledge of the organisation's thinking.

The United States has advocated shifting the agency's relief services to refugee host countries. But UNRWA counters it provides a humanitarian lifeline and that it safeguards and advances Palestinians' rights under international law.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official, praised the UN vote on Friday and said it was the United Nations' responsibility to combat what she called US and Israeli attacks on Palestinian refugees.

"All attempts at trying to limit UNRWA's mandate or defund it or attack it have failed, and we hope that the international community will continue to come to the rescue," she said.