This bill would restore U.S. funding to UNRWA, the United Nations agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees, which was paused in early 2024 following allegations that some individual UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 terrorist attacks. The legislation argues that UNRWA's humanitarian work is critical to preventing famine in Gaza and that the agency has taken decisive corrective actions, including firing implicated employees and commissioning an independent review that found UNRWA has established strong compliance mechanisms. The bill would repeal the funding restrictions that were put in place and direct the State Department to resume UNRWA funding under existing authorities, while most other major U.S. allies including the European Union nations, Canada, Japan, and Australia have already restored their contributions. The State Department would be required to report to Congress every quarter through the end of 2027 on UNRWA's implementation of the independent review's recommendations. The bill was introduced by a bipartisan group of House members in September 2024 and focuses on the humanitarian necessity of UNRWA's role as the primary distributor of aid in Gaza.
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