UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday urged countries to cover a $100 million funding gap for the UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA , saying the body was nearing a breaking point after deep cost-cutting and austerity measures.
Guterres told an ad hoc meeting of the General Assembly on voluntary contributions that UNRWA's situation was increasingly precarious given sweeping restrictions throughout the occupied Palestinian territory that impeded its work, and the large cash shortfall. The United Nations agency operates in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, providing aid, schooling, healthcare, social services and shelter to 2.6 million Palestinians.
The US was UNRWA's biggest donor, but cut funding in January 2024 after Israel accused, without providing evidence, about a dozen UNRWA staff of taking part in the deadly October attack led by Hamas and other armed groups.
Other major donors paused funding for UNRWA, but most resumed their contributions when the investigation's findings did not align with Israel's claims.
Guterres said the agency's liquidity crisis jeopardised its ability to meet its mandate, which the General Assembly renewed six months ago with overwhelming member support.
"They cannot keep going like this without urgent backing and financial support from member states," Guterres said, noting that the agency had taken decisive steps to implement reforms and update its policy on outside and political activities following Israel's accusations.
"UNRWA is a stabilising force in an age of instability," he said, rejecting what he called continued efforts to undermine the agency through "disinformation, smear campaigns, legislative actions, operational restrictions, diplomatic roadblocks and more."
Such actions threatened the well-being of millions of Palestinians as well as UNRWA staff, Guterres said, noting that Israel had killed at least 390 UNRWA staff in Gaza since October 2023. He noted that 1,000 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks since an alleged "ceasefire" was announced in October 2025. UNRWA had reduced its service delivery hours by 20% this year, cutting salaries for local personnel and keeping 15% of international posts vacant, Guterres said, adding, "Any further cuts could push conditions past the breaking point."
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency faced an existential crisis. He said the results of the ad hoc meeting on voluntary contributions would be announced on Wednesday.
In 2025, UNRWA received about $887 million in pledges and $829 million in contributions, according to its website, which together accounted for just 27% of the total funding needs of $3.3 billion.