UNRWA & WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN IN GAZA (OCT 2023–FEB 2025): OPERATIONS, POLITICAL TARGETING, AND HUMANITARIAN CHALLENGES

Abstract

This study provides a qualitative chronological overview of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and World Central Kitchen (WCK), focusing on their status, political targeting, and current operations from October 7, 2023, to February 10, 2025, in Gaza, Palestine. It examines the historical context of Palestinian displacement following the Nakba in 1948, which led to the creation of UNRWA to address the humanitarian crisis that has been ongoing due to decades of foreign occupation, displacement, and ethnic cleansing. A qualitative review of primary reports by international organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and The United Nations, scholarly sources, and gray media reports on the funding and operational status of UNRWA and WCK before October 2023, emphasizing their reliance on voluntary government contributions, were explored. The study details the political and military targeting of both organizations since October 2023, including false allegations and deliberate attacks on aid workers in Gaza linked to human rights violations and war crimes such as systematic ethnic cleansing and genocide committed by Israeli occupation forces. Thematic analysis also links the recent defunding of UNWRA by the United States to the history and future of U.S. foreign policy on Palestine. The findings and conclusion of this study emphasize the urgent need for international support to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, fund humanitarian efforts, and for highly developed countries stemming from United States influence and policy to shift to recognize Palestinian sovereignty and self-determination in Gaza and greater Palestine.