Trump plans to target UN Human Rights Council, UNRWA

The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long been critical of UNRWA.

During Trump’s first term in office, from 2017-2021, he also cut off funding for UNRWA, questioning its value, saying that Palestinians needed to agree to renew peace talks with Israel, and calling for unspecified reforms.

The first Trump administration also quit the 47-member Human Rights Council halfway through a three-year term over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform. The US is not currently a member of the Geneva-based body. Under Democratic former President Joe Biden, the US was re-elected and served a 2022-2024 term.

A Human Rights Council working group is due to review the US human rights record in August, a process all countries undergo every few years. While the council has no legally binding power, its debates carry political weight and criticism can raise global pressure on governments to change course.

Since taking office for a second term on Jan. 20, Trump has ordered that the US withdraw from the World Health Organization and from the Paris climate agreement – also steps he took during his first term in office.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated last week that the agency has been the target of a “fierce disinformation campaign” to “portray the agency as a terrorist organization.”

The US was UNRWA’s biggest donor – providing $300 million-$400 million a year – but Biden paused funding in January 2024 after Israel claimed about a dozen UNRWA staff of taking part in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza.

The US Congress then formally suspended contributions to UNRWA until at least March 2025. UNRWA provides aid, health and education services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

The United Nations has announced that nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack and were fired. The UN has vowed to investigate all claims made and repeatedly asked Israel for evidence, which it says has not been provided.

An Israeli ban went into effect on Jan. 30 that prohibits UNRWA from operating on its territory or communicating with Israeli authorities. UNRWA has cautioned operations in Gaza and West Bank will also suffer.