"The United Nations Relief and Works Agency raised just $107 million during a pledge conference on Friday, well below the $300 million mark it says it needs to continue its operations in Judea and Samaria and neighboring countries.
The countries pledging funds were not announced.
While UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini expressed gratitude for the new pledges, he had stated previously that $300 million was required in order to keep over 700 UNRWA-run schools and 140 clinics open from September through the remainder of the year. Without the funding, he said, UNRWA would also struggle to continue its food distribution in Gaza and cash handouts in Syria and Lebanon.
UNRWA was created in 1949 to assist those Arabs who fled or were displaced during Israel’s War of Independence. Unlike every other refugee agency, however, UNRWA is not allowed to attempt to resettle its refugees, and designates their descendants as refugees as well.
One of the effects of this strategy is that UNRWA’s costs balloon each year, as the population it serves—now at six million—necessarily increases, thereby driving up its operating costs..."