#man if the unrwa collapses or is dismantled

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i don't think unrwa should be rebuilt at all - I don't see why the un refugee organ can't take care of palestinian refugees like it cares for all other refugees, I don't see why the UN world food program can't deliver food aid to palestine the same way it delivers food aid elsewhere, I don't see why WHO can't provide medical aid to palestine the same way it provides medical services globally, I don't see why unicef can't provide the educational support palestine needs the same way they do everywhere else. I don't see why Palestine needs a special service just for them instead of having those services provided by the same organisations that provide them for everyone else.

Honestly? You’re right. But the unfortunate reality is that if by some miracle the UNRWA is dismantled (or collapses), something else will take its place. All I know is that whatever substitute would replace it cannot, under any circumstances, be run by the UN. They’re failing in their mission, failing in their aims. They’ve proven there’s a moral rot in their organization that I fear can only be stamped out if the whole organization itself collapses. And that in turn, would create chaos.

Now if I turn out to be wrong, I’d be delighted. It wouldn’t take much for the likes of UNICEF to expand their budget to include education for Palestinian children and teens that doesn’t involve around vicious antisemitism and glorifying terrorism, but I’m not holding my breath

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Meanwhile, nearly half of the territory’s 1.9 million residents are seeking shelter in the Rafah governorate area in southern Gaza. On Wednesday, heavy rain encompassed the Strip, filled with displaced people, worsening the already miserable and dangerous situation as people do not have adequate clothing, electricity, or shelter.  “My son is sick because of the bitter cold and my daughter is barefoot. It’s like we are beggars,” Aziza al-Shabrawi, 38, told Al Jazeera, “No one cares, and no one helps.” “Our house was destroyed, our child was martyred and I remain facing it all. This is the fifth place we have had to move to, fleeing from one place to another, with nothing but a T-shirt on,” she continued, hanging wet clothes outside her tent. In Gaza’s southern district of Rafah, where Israel told civilians to evacuate, Palestinians faced “intense” Israeli bombardment overnight on Wednesday.  “This area was designated as safe and … the majority of Gazans had been ordered to flee” to the area, Al Jazeera’s correspondent Abu Azzoum reported. At least 27 Palestinians in the airstrikes, and dozens of others have been injured, according to Wafa. With nowhere safe in the Gaza Strip, more and more residents are becoming resigned to staying where they are and ignoring Israeli calls for evacuation from place to place. “There is no place safe here in Khan Younis. Israeli tanks are as close as 600 meters [1,968 feet]. There are snipers on top of buildings that shoot whatever moves. People do not know where to go,” Mansour Shouman, a Palestinian Canadian sheltering in Nasser Hospital, told Al Jazeera.  Shouman refuses to evacuate Khan Younis despite the eastern area being “completely taken over by the Israeli military.” “Even if you successfully reach Rafah, there is no temporary shelter, food, or water. That’s why people are deciding to stay here in Khan Younis – at least it’s better than the unknown,” he explained.  [...] In order to alleviate some of the ongoing medical crisis, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has announced a Qatari field hospital is being set up in Rafah, southern Gaza, comprising 50 beds, an operating room, and an ICU. However, with over 50,000 injuries and the collapse of the healthcare system in the besieged enclave, it is still not nearly enough to support the population as injuries continue to mount under Israel’s ruthless attacks.  Meanwhile, in the northern Gaza Strip, the Gaza Health Ministry has reported concerning news following a several-day-long siege and shelling of Kamal Adwan Hospital.  The Ministry says Israeli forces shot several Palestinians after ordering them to leave the Hospital. An elderly man told Al Jazeera that “the Israeli army used loudspeakers to demand the evacuation of the displaced individuals from the hospital, citing planned demolition operations.” “Conditions in the Hospital are dire with no water or electricity. Bodies are scattered on the ground,” one survivor told Al Jazeera.  According to UNRWA, about 70 staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital are still being detained in unknown locations outside of the hospital by the Israeli military. However, five doctors and all the female staff have been released.  “Reports from those released indicate that they were interrogated, beaten, and exposed to the harsh weather before they eventually returned to the hospital,” UNRWA added. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) is “gravely concerned for their welfare, as well as patients, staff and displaced people reportedly trapped inside without electricity, water or food.” “Two mothers were killed at the Hospital on Monday when the maternity department was hit,” continued the UK-based organization, condemning Israel’s “systematic dismantling” of Gaza’s health system.

-- From "Gaza: Civilians killed execution-style and children sleeping in the rain" by Leila Warah for Mondoweiss, 14 Dec 2023