PLO official confirms UNRWA viewed as political tool for “right of return” for 6 million Palestinians, not humanitarian org.
Official PA TV program Topic of the Day, on Israel banning UNRWA's activity due to its documented involvement in Hamas terrorism during the 2023 Gaza war – see note below
Head of PLO Department of Refugee Affairs Anwar Hammam: "Israel wants to collapse the Palestinian cause through the refugees, and as a result of this [is] targeting the refugees' cause… and also thwarting the work of UNRWA as UNRWA is the international recognition of the existence and continuation of the refugees' cause… UNRWA was established until a just solution [would be found] according to Resolution 194. Israel wants to collapse the legal foundations that defend the refugees' rights… Israel wants to create a new definition that the refugee is only the one who was expelled in 1948 from Palestine and not his descendants. Therefore, there is no need for UNRWA because the number of refugees is a few thousand whose situation can be resolved through family unification or naturalizing them in this or that state, and through monetary temptations and compensations. Therefore, [Israel thinks] there is no need for the existence of an institution like UNRWA... Israel thinks that there are not 6 million [refugees] but just 20,000-30,000… This is a deceptive and superficial definition of the refugees' cause.Israel wants to eliminate this cause once and for all by defining the refugee and removing the classification of refugeehood from millions of people."
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Oct. 29, 2024]