As Palestinian civilian deaths climb at a rate unprecedented in modern warfare, the Biden administration has continued to unconditionally support an Israeli government that appears increasingly barbaric and unhinged. The sole bright spot in the United States’ otherwise disastrous handling of the war has been its continued commitment to funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, a UN agency founded in the aftermath of the 1948 displacement of Palestinians from Israel. Aside from a withdrawal under the Trump administration, the United States has consistently been one of UNRWA’s largest donors.

Last Friday, the United States announced that it would suspend all funding to UNRWA following the release of an Israeli intelligence report that alleged thirteen UNRWA employees were participants in the October 7 Hamas attack. Several other countries followed the United States’ lead, including the UK and Germany.

Like any intergovernmental organization, UNRWA is a flawed vehicle for humanitarian relief. It is also essential. Over the nearly two decades of Israeli blockade, UNRWA has grown into something approaching a state for Gazans, providing schooling, infrastructure, health care, and various social services for the two million people in the strip. This role has grown more pivotal during the war. The Biden administration has consistently cited UNRWA as a key stakeholder in the coordination of aid disbursement. A sizable portion of the $100 million in additional US aid toward Palestinian relief was to flow through UNRWA, on top of the over $200 million sent over the course of 2023. The majority of aid trucks currently entering Gaza are coordinated by the agency.