{"id":821,"date":"2026-02-18T10:36:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/?p=821"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:36:34","slug":"palestinian-refugees-protest-unrwa-service-cuts-in-bethlehem-camps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/?p=821&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian refugees protest UNRWA service cuts in Bethlehem camps"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"col-12 mb-3\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload img-fluid rounded w-100\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/news\/2026\/1771345663-563688682.JPG\" alt=\"News Main Image \" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 news-content\">\n<p>Bethlehem, West Bank (PNN) \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Palestinian refugee committees and officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization staged protests Monday outside UNRWA offices in the Dheisheh refugee camp, denouncing what they described as sweeping cuts to services that they say undermine refugees\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of representatives from popular committees, the PLO\u2019s Department of Refugee Affairs and community organizations from the Dheisheh, Aida and Beit Jibrin (al-Azza) camps gathered outside the local headquarters and clinic of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.<\/p>\n<p>Protesters carried banners rejecting reductions in social assistance, health care and education services, as well as shorter working hours and salary cuts for employees. They said the measures harm refugees\u2019 rights, particularly the right of return.<\/p>\n<p>Participants also criticized what they called an international campaign targeting UNRWA through funding reductions and urged donor countries and the United Nations to meet their financial commitments.<\/p>\n<p>Nader Faraj, director of southern camps at the PLO\u2019s Department of Refugee Affairs, said the protest followed a series of meetings over what he described as efforts to undermine Palestinian refugee rights by targeting UNRWA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was an urgent need to sound the alarm and move immediately,\u201d Faraj told the Palestine News Network.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media\">\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1vdSZegMJMk\">\n<div><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1vdSZegMJMk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>He said the rally was part of broader activities across Bethlehem-area camps under the slogan: \u201cNo to cutting UNRWA services, no to salary reductions, and no to erasing refugee rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mahmoud Ramadan, head of the Dheisheh camp\u2019s popular services committee, said the protest carried a \u201cclear message\u201d rejecting the agency\u2019s decisions and service cuts \u201cin all refugee camps at home and in the diaspora.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the first action of its kind, but it will not be the last,\u201d Ramadan said. He added that camp leaders had met with the PLO\u2019s refugee affairs department and other committees to discuss next steps, including a campaign to send messages abroad urging countries to prevent what they described as attempts to dismantle UNRWA.<\/p>\n<p>Saeed al-Azzha, head of the popular committee in Aida camp, said the protest aimed to show that refugees and their institutions oppose policies that target camps by reducing UNRWA services. He noted that the agency was established by U.N. General Assembly Resolution 302 in 1949 to assist Palestinian refugees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese cuts are presented as a funding issue, but they are political and target refugee rights,\u201d al-Azzha said.<\/p>\n<p>He called on host countries, including the Palestinian Authority, to take a firm stance and press donor nations to meet their financial obligations.<\/p>\n<p>Mohammed al-Adawain, head of the popular services committee in Beit Jibrin (al-Azza) camp, described the decisions as \u201cunjust\u201d toward employees and refugees.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345595-1592026928.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe message today is solidarity with all refugee camps, especially those in the northern West Bank facing systematic targeting,\u201d he said, adding that the service reductions coincide with broader pressures on camps.<\/p>\n<p>Across generations, refugees at the rally said their demands were clear: that UNRWA and the United Nations honor their commitments, arguing that services are rights pending a political resolution, not charity.<\/p>\n<p>Hala, a student at the Dheisheh girls\u2019 school who gave only her first name, said she joined the protest to defend her right to education and support employees facing cuts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am here to reject what UNRWA is doing and to demand our rights,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Raebal al-Kurd, executive director of the Rowad Association for Culture, said the protest was \u201ca cry of anger\u201d over what he called the agency\u2019s retreat from its core responsibilities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese services are an international responsibility,\u201d he said. \u201cInstead of reducing them, the agency should pressure the world to provide the necessary funding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He described the accumulation of service cuts as a violation of international decisions related to Palestinian refugee rights and called on UNRWA to reverse its measures.<\/p>\n<p>Hajjah Hiyam al-Azza, a refugee from Aida camp, said she attended to show solidarity with teachers and doctors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are here to reject the erasure of our rights in health and education,\u201d she said. \u201cRefugees are not asking for charity. These are our rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-1491494330.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-1302925834.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-631618055.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345631-2043605456.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-1279540551.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-724740991.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-1046253663.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-1304204943.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-1612098877.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-652435853.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-1736643310.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-951525860.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-1504943579.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pnn.ps\/english\/storage\/images\/media\/2026\/1771345630-1969302109.JPG\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bethlehem, West Bank (PNN) \u2014 Palestinian refugee committees and officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization staged protests Monday outside UNRWA offices in the Dheisheh refugee camp, denouncing what they described as sweeping cuts to services that they say undermine refugees\u2019 rights. Dozens of representatives from popular committees, the PLO\u2019s Department of Refugee Affairs and community [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":821},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":822,"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions\/822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aidacommittee.org\/ar\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}