Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees By the mid-1950s, it was evident to the UN and the parties involved that the UNCCP was unable to fulfill its dual mandate of mediator and international protection agency. Israel’s opposition to repatriation made it impossible to solve the greater conflict while simultaneously implementing the required durable solution for the refugees. Although the UNCCP was never legally terminated, its operations shrank due to political impasse, lack of support, and de-funding by the UN. The UNCCP was never replaced by any international agency with an explicit mandate focusing on durable solutions for the entire Palestinian refugee population defined under Res. 194(III). The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) On 8 December 1949, by Res. 302(IV), the UNGA created UNRWA. UNRWA was established at the outset as a short-term (three years, renewable) ‘relief and works’ agency. Its services initially extended to a subset of the population of UNCCP-defined ‘Palestine refugees’—the subgroup that was ‘in need.’ By 1951, UNRWA had inherited a list of almost one million persons from the predecessor refugee agencies providing relief to the Palestinians. UNRWA’s refugee definition as it has evolved today is not tied to specific eligibility for refugee protection, but covers groups and categories of vulnerable persons designated on the basis of need for services. 4