Schools managed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have reduced their educational activities to a four day week in response to significant funding issues, UNRWA’s West Bank assistant field public information officer Abeer Midhat Ismail confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The reduction in school days was prompted by financial difficulties and accompanied a 20% reduction in the working hours of UNRWA staff.
The measures are expected to continue through to the end of the academic year.
In January, the UN agency let go of 571 staff members due to financial constraints. An UNRWA spokesperson claimed that its services totaled $880 million in 2025, but the UN agency received only around $570 million in contributions, according to Agence France-Presse.
The decline in donations coincides with the ongoing public criticism by Israel and organizations like UN Watch on its failures to weed out Hamas from its personnel and facilities.
Throughout the war in Gaza, the IDF uncovered terror hubs in UNRWA schools and headquarters, and members of UNRWA’s staff were found to be members of Hamas and or involved in the October 7 massacre.
The remains of Yonatan Samerano were kidnapped to Gaza by UNRWA social worker Faisal Ali Mussalem al-Naami during Hamas’s October 7 massacre, and Ditza Heiman was held captive by an UNRWA teacher for more than 50 days.
Source:
www.jpost.com
