"Art can play an important role in supporting children’s healthy development during conflicts and emergencies." UNRWA works

Friends Lareen (left) and Layan (right) exhibited their artwork at UNRWA’s Asmaa Shelter in Gaza City. © June 2026 UNRWA PhotoThe children's art was exhibited in five temporary spaces across the Gaza Strip. © June 2026 UNRWA PhotoA total of 250 children

 UNRWA

@UNRWA

Through art, Lareen and Layan are finding ways to express their thoughts, hopes and emotions. 

They were among 1,000 children in #Gaza who took part in UNRWA-supported art activities that provided a safe and encouraging space for creativity and self-expression. 

With support from the European Union, these activities help children explore their talents and share their stories. 

Read the full story: https://unrwa.org/newsroom/photos/paint-paper-and-pencils-help-children-gaza-strip-cope-trauma-and-loss 

 #UNRWAworks  

#FundUNRWA 

https://x.com/UNRWA/status/2108561074555424976 

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Paint, paper, and pencils help children in the Gaza Strip cope with trauma and loss

02 September 2026

A steady sound of voices fills UNRWA’s Asmaa shelter-turned-exhibition space in Beach Camp in Gaza City. As people move through the crowded room, they pause to smile, point, and take photos of the colourful artwork that brightens the once-white walls. Standing among them are 11-year-old friends Lareen and Layan. The young students-turned-artists proudly show off their posters and upcycled cardboard figures.

"I love drawing flowers," says Layan. "One day, I want to become an architect."

Alongside 1,000 other children living in UNRWA shelters across the Gaza Strip, the young friends have participated in art activities organised by the Agency. Under the supervision and guidance of UNRWA psychosocial counsellors, the students have learned how to express their thoughts, aspirations, and emotions through art, creating posters, drawings, artistic models, and sculptures.

"We were so happy to participate. We collected things from around us and learned how to turn them into something beautiful. We made new friends and spent time together in a healthy environment, away from the destruction around us," says Lareen, who is among the 250 children selected to exhibit their art in one of the five temporary exhibition spaces across the Gaza Strip.

The art activities and exhibitions were made possible through funding from European Union Humanitarian Aid, which provided the paint, paper, and other materials needed for drawing, colouring, and crafting, as well as the psychosocial support that helped create a safe and encouraging environment for the participants.

Art can play an important role in supporting children’s healthy development during conflicts and emergencies. Through art, they learn how to express complex emotions they might otherwise find difficult to articulate, while strengthening their confidence and fostering a sense of normalcy. For children in the Gaza Strip, opportunities to learn, play, and express themselves have been disrupted by more than two years of war, repeated displacement, and the loss of loved ones.

Wael, an UNRWA focal point for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in the Gaza Strip, has witnessed how the art activities have made a difference.

“The children transformed their feelings, experiences, and aspirations into powerful artworks that speak of both their struggles and their hope for a better future. The initiative gave them a voice, while strengthening their well-being and helping them rebuild hope in the most challenging circumstances.”

The project also attracted older children eager to develop their artistic talents.

For 16-year-old UNRWA school graduate Khadija, living in the Asmaa shelter in Beach Camp, art became a means of documenting the realities faced by children in the Gaza Strip. Having lost both her home and her brother during the war, she used her artwork to reflect on the experiences that continue to shape her community.

"I saw a child whose arms had been amputated playing hopscotch in the street," she recalls. "These are the real losses in life, the moments of joy that disappear. We have been deprived of everything. I want to express the suffering of the children..." READ MORE  https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/photos/paint-paper-and-pencils-help-children-gaza-strip-cope-trauma-and-loss

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Back to School, in Gaza My nephews study in a big tent surrounded by bombed-out houses. They have no access to chairs or desks, so they sit on the dirt. By Mosab Abu Toha in The New Yorker

Palestinian children walk to school amid the rubble of destroyed buildings as the academic year begins in Khan Younis, on September 19th.Photograph by Bashar Taleb / AFP / Getty

The New Yorker's The Lede
Reporting and commentary on what you need to know today.

Back to School, in Gaza

My nephews study in a big tent surrounded by bombed-out houses. They have no access to chairs or desks, so they sit on the dirt.

By Mosab Abu Toha

October 7, 2026

When I was growing up, in northern Gaza, my parents took my siblings and me to a stationery store about a week before each school year started. I would pick out my favorite notebooks, pencils, sharpener, eraser, and ruler, and place them in my backpack. My parents also took us to the market, to buy jeans, shirts, shoes, socks, and a belt. The night before school began was the second most important day of my year, after Eid. I would lay out my outfit and backpack next to the mattress where I slept. Then I would tuck my new shoes under my pillow.

Most schools in Gaza are three- or four-story concrete structures with a U-shaped layout and a central courtyard for assemblies and recreation. My middle school, Al-Fakhoora School, in Jabalia Camp, was run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. It had two practical-arts rooms, where students could learn carpentry, blacksmithing, and metalworking. There was also a science lab, a computer lab, and a library. On the first day, my mother or father would accompany us while we found our classrooms and teachers. My favorite subjects were English and physical education.

Schools were where we accessed many public services. From birth until the age of fifteen, we received many of our vaccinations at UNRWA schools. I remember UNRWA teams performing comprehensive dental screenings at least twice. The agency also gave out new and used textbooks for free. (Students sometimes quarrelled over who got the new ones.) When we got home, our parents helped us fit the books with protective covers. After ninth grade, I began attending government schools, but for a year or two UNRWA continued to provide daily food rations to my younger siblings. I recall them returning home with things they hadn’t finished in class—a sandwich, yogurt, some fresh fruit, juice, nutrient-fortified milk... READ MORE https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/back-to-school-in-gaza

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Palestinian Ministry of Education says over 22 thousands Palestinian students have been killed by Israel in the last three years; 179 public schools and 105 UNRWA schools were destroyed. Yet 700 teaching locations in Gaza opened for Gaza students

Daoud Kuttab داود كُتّاب

@daoudkuttab

 

Palestinian Ministry of Education says over 22 thousands Palestinian students have been killed by Israel in the last three years; 179 public schools and 105 @unrwa schools were destroyed. Yet 700 teaching locations in Gaza opened for Gaza students

https://x.com/daoudkuttab/status/2107722648885080504

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 UNRWA

@UNRWA

UNRWA is more than an agency. We are teachers helping children learn, nurses providing healthcare, social workers supporting families and frontline staff meeting needs on the ground every day. Behind the disinformation are real people, real needs and real rights. #UNRWAworks

 

 

Across the occupied #WestBank, more than 48,000 #Palestine Refugee children are returning to UNRWA schools for a new year of learning, reconnecting with friends and teachers and working towards a brighter future.  From the first day of school, UNRWA supports their learning and aspirations.  #UNRWAworks #FundUNRWA

 

In the Gaza Strip, 

the occupied West Bank, 

Lebanon, 

Syria, 

Jordan, 

through every challenge, we provide essential services and lifesaving support to millions of #Palestine Refugees. 

 

We are UNRWA.  

 

#UNRWAworks #FundUNRWA 

 

https://x.com/UNRWA/status/2107350147474526212 

"UNRWA acts decisively whenever staff misconduct is identified, while all employees are regularly screened, trained and required to comply with UN standards... Israel receives the names of all UNRWA staff twice a year for security screening"... "Nobody has the infrastructure, the experience, the skillset or the staff to be able to do what we do now on behalf of Palestine refugees," Christian Saunders said. "That doesn't mean UNRWA needs to exist forever. As soon as there is a recognised Palestinian administration able to assume these responsibilities, UNRWA should hand over those services. Until then, we have a mandate and an obligation to ensure that Palestine refugees have access to these critical services."

UNRWA, established in 1949, now serves around six million registered Palestine refugees, with approximately 2.6 million people currently receiving assistance across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

UNRWA

@UNRWA 

https://x.com/UNRWA/status/2084882200881766562 

Every day, UNRWA delivers education, healthcare, relief and social services to millions of Palestine Refugees. We will continue to do so until a just and durable solution is found and we can hand over to empowered Palestinian Institutions..  #UNRWAworks  Read the full article: https://chronicle.lu/category/polit

Luxembourg Reaffirms Long-Term Support for UNRWA's Humanitarian Mission

".....  Responding to a question about criticism from Luxembourg politicians who have accused UNRWA of being infiltrated by Hamas and alleged that Luxembourg's financial support benefits terrorism, Minister Bettel rejected the claims. He said Luxembourg had seen first-hand the projects it supports and continued to trust the agency. "To blame the whole organisation is really unacceptable," he said. "I trust UNRWA, and I will continue to trust UNRWA as long as there is no one able to replace it."

Christian Saunders also dismissed the allegations, describing them as "a smear campaign with a political end." He stressed that UNRWA acts decisively whenever staff misconduct is identified, while all employees are regularly screened, trained and required to comply with UN standards. He added that Israel receives the names of all UNRWA staff twice a year for security screening and "has the opportunity to raise concerns if it believes any staff member has links to a militant group or has committed a criminal act." "

https://www.chronicle.lu/category/politics/62440-luxembourg-reaffirms-long-term-support-for-unrwas-humanitarian-mission 

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"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. UNRWA was established by General Assembly Resolution 302 because the international community failed to implement Palestinian refugees' rights under United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194. Its mandate therefore remains exclusively under the authority of the General Assembly until those rights—including return, restitution, compensation, and reparation—are fulfilled. It cannot be transferred, conditioned, or terminated through political arrangements."

Statement by BADIL and GPRN “Dismantling UNRWA: “The Board of Peace” Agenda”

(Bethlehem, 07 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. UNRWA was established by General Assembly Resolution 302 because the international community failed to implement Palestinian refugees' rights under United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194. Its mandate therefore remains exclusively under the authority of the General Assembly until those rights—including return, restitution, compensation, and reparation—are fulfilled. It cannot be transferred, conditioned, or terminated through political arrangements.

 

Against this legal backdrop, the Commissioner-General ad interim's remarks that UNRWA is essential to the Board of Peace’s activities until its services can be transferred to the Palestinian Authority is deeply alarming. Likewise, Article 14 of the New York Declaration, which envisages transferring UNRWA's services to the Palestinian Authority within a two-State framework, unlawfully subordinates the Agency's mandate to a political settlement contrary to Resolution 194. UNRWA was established neither to facilitate state-building nor to administer political transitions, but because Palestinian refugees continue to be denied their internationally protected rights.

 

The Board of Peace has itself made its objective unmistakably clear:

"UNRWA has no place in the new Gaza. We are turning the page on the complex of perpetual aid dependency and conflict. The people of Gaza deserve better."

 

This statement removes any ambiguity. The Board of Peace is the institutional vehicle for implementing the so-called GREAT Plan. What began in 2025 as proposals for "Humanitarian Transit Areas" has now evolved into fenced "Humanitarian Shelters"  in Rafah policed by foreign forces –  while the Israeli military consolidates its colonial control over the remainder of Gaza. These proposals are not humanitarian measures but mechanisms for institutionalizing forcible transfer, replacing UNRWA with externally controlled profit-driven “aid”, and transforming refugee rights into systems of containment, surveillance, and permanent displacement.

 

We call upon the Secretary-General, UNRWA, Member States, and the United Nations system to ensure that UNRWA’s mandate remains under the exclusive authority of the General Assembly, in accordance with international law and General Assembly Resolution 194, and is not subject to political conditionality imposed by any external body, including the BoP:

 

Invoke the “Uniting for Peace” mechanism

We call upon the PLO, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to invoke the “Uniting for Peace” mechanism by convening an emergency special session of the General Assembly under Resolution 377, in order to recommend collective measures in response to ongoing violations of international law, obstruction of UN operations, and grave breaches of peremptory norms by the Israeli regime.

 

Article 6 of the UN Charter

We call upon Member States to initiate procedures under Article 6 of the UN Charter concerning the Israeli regime for persistent and grave violations of the Charter, and to ensure the immediate restoration of full, unhindered operational capacity of UNRWA across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV), with guaranteed protection for its facilities, personnel, and humanitarian operations.

 

Guarantee UNRWA’s mandate and operational access

We call upon member states and civil society to pressure to ensure UNRWA’s unrestricted access to Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory, secure its facilities and personnel, and provide sustained, unconditional funding to enable the Agency to fulfil its mandate under UN General Assembly Resolutions 194 and 302 without political interference.    https://badil.org/press-releases/16914.html  

 

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United Nations photo- Palestine Refugees, Middle East, 1951: "The Palestinian conflict forced into exile nearly a million Arabs. Great efforts were made by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency [UNRWA] to provide work and pay for the refugees. But available funds were [are] only sufficient to provide employment for a small minority, without producing lasting economic effects. Refugees make materials and clothes for their own use."

United Nations Photo Palestine Refugees, 1951

Palestine Refugees, Middle East, 1951

The Palestinian conflict forced into exile nearly a million Arabs. Great efforts were made by the UN Relief and Works Agency to provide work and pay for the refugees. But available funds were only sufficient to provide employment for a small minority, without producing lasting economic effects.

Refugees make materials and clothes for their own use.

UN Photo

1951

Middle East

Photo # UN7707935

https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/53376742762/in/album-72177720313177543/ 

This photo is in 1 album

• History of Question of Palestine 184 items  

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Palestine Refugees 1949 

A wagonload of refugee children in the U.N. demilitarized zone at Lake Tiberias on the Israeli-Syrian frontier. [Exact date unknown] 

Photo # UN7505381

https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/53376742872/in/album-72177720313177543/