Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees Conclusions Drawing conclusions from the various definitions and agency mandates, and the territories in which they operate as they affect Palestinian refugees, the protection gap is evident. As noted, the UNGA Res. 194(III) definition of ‘Palestine refugee’ applies today to a population of Palestinians, including a third generation, of approximately 6 million out of the 11.2 million Palestinians worldwide. The Agency that was to identify the beneficiaries of that definition and provide the full panoply of international protection functions, UNCCP, has become defunct as a practical, but not a legal, matter. UNHCR’s interpretation of who is a ‘Palestinian refugee’ is inadequate to address the protection gap, because under its interpretation of Article 1D, a durable solution-related definition applies to only about half of the global Palestinian refugee or stateless population. This anomaly is best illustrated by the lack of any intervention by UNHCR or UNRWA in negotiations between the parties to the Israel-Palestine conflict concerning durable solutions for Palestinian refugees. In contrast to dozens of conflicts in which UNHCR has protected the rights of refugees, this role is absent for Palestinian refugees. Despite promoting various durable solution plans in post-conflict agreements worldwide, UNHCR has never claimed a role to 24