In late January, following the United States' decision to halt funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the organization's top official traveled to the Arab Gulf in a bid to secure support from wealthy Arab monarchies.
UNRWA, the main provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza, hoped these efforts would help save the organization.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, managed to raise $85 million from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates for 2024.
However, this amount fell far short of the funding lost due to the aid cuts from the U.S. and other countries. Last year, the U.S. alone provided over $422 million to the agency.
The funds raised by Lazzarini so far are sufficient to cover UNRWA's expenses through May, according to agency officials.
Without additional funding beyond that point, UNRWA will be compelled to scale back its humanitarian activities in Gaza, including providing food and shelter to over a million people. Several other U.N.
agencies and charity groups rely heavily on UNRWA, with approximately 3,000 of its employees in Gaza overseeing most aid distribution and primary healthcare services.
While the recent contributions from Arab and other donors have enabled UNRWA to continue assisting Palestinians, Lazzarini expressed concerns about the sustainability of the agency's operations.
He stated, "We are functioning hand-to-mouth. Without additional funding, we will be in uncharted territory."
The majority of Gaza's 2.2 million residents are already displaced, lacking access to adequate medical care and facing the threat of famine.
This dire situation has prompted several countries, including Canada, Sweden, Australia, and Finland, to resume funding that was initially suspended.
UNRWA has faced controversy since Israel accused at least a dozen employees, including schoolteachers, of participating in Hamas-led attacks.
The agency has fired the staffers allegedly linked to the attacks and maintains that Israel has not provided evidence of widespread involvement in militant groups among its employees.
Israel has been advocating for UNRWA to be gradually phased out of Gaza and replaced by other humanitarian groups.
The U.S. has indicated that it will not resume funding for UNRWA anytime soon. A new spending package passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden includes a provision that blocks UNRWA from receiving funds until at least March 2025.
If former President Donald Trump is re-elected, the likelihood of funding resuming appears even slimmer, as his administration cut off funding for UNRWA in 2018, citing concerns about the agency's business model.
UNRWA's broad mandate, which includes providing emergency relief to refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and running schools, healthcare centers, and other services for stateless Palestinians across the Levant, could be at risk without new funding.
The agency's annual expenses exceed $1.4 billion, primarily covering salaries for its 30,000 employees across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
Although most of the initial 700,000 refugees from the 1948 conflict have since passed away, UNRWA now supports their descendants, numbering more than 5 million.
With no Arab country other than Jordan offering significant numbers of Palestinian refugees citizenship, the responsibility of caring for them has largely fallen to the U.N.
Arab monarchies, while reluctant to see UNRWA collapse, prefer to donate bilaterally to humanitarian causes rather than through the U.N.
They have expressed interest in reforming UNRWA, including improving staff screening to prevent infiltration by Hamas.
However, they do not view it as their responsibility to fully replace Western funding for the agency.
Saudi Arabia recently pledged $40 million to UNRWA for humanitarian response in Gaza, the largest single contribution by a country since the funding scandal broke.
The UAE disbursed $20 million to UNRWA, funds that had been promised earlier but not delivered until recently.
Qatar pledged $25 million for 2024, while Kuwait has made no commitment thus far.
Some Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, are hesitant to commit substantial sums to Gaza without greater clarity on the enclave's political future.
The kingdom has been advocating for a two-state solution in which a reformed Palestinian Authority would play a role, a scenario that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far rejected.
The funding suspensions announced in January have already begun to impact UNRWA's operations. Lazzarini's diplomatic efforts helped delay the effects by securing additional cash from countries such as Spain and Ireland.
The European Union also pledged an initial €50 million payment to UNRWA, contingent on the agency allowing EU-appointed experts to audit its staff screening processes.