Engineered Collapse: The United Nations’ Strategic Assessment of UNRWA and Palestinian Refugee Rights The implication of these scenarios lies in their fundamental contradiction with the primary objective of the assessment, which is to safeguard UNRWA. They treat the agency’s collapse as an inevitable conclusion and outline the pathways through which UNRWA can be dismantled. Therefore, the rejection of these scenarios is not only based on impractical grounds, but more importantly, because they contradict UNRWA’s founding mandate and international law. 1. Introduction At the request of the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG), a strategic assessment [Hereinafter: Assessment] was initiated to evaluate the implications of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Its stated focus is reviewing UNRWA’s impact, its implementation of the mandate under prevailing political, financial, security, and operational constraints, and the potential consequences and risks for Palestine refugees.1 Prior to the Assessment2 being published in June 2025, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated that “the Strategic Assessment will propose how the rights of 1 United Nations. Ian Martin Appointed Head of the Strategic Assessment of UNRWA | United Nations. accessed July 23, 2025, https://www.un.org/en/delegate/ian-martin-appointed-headstrategic-assessment-unrwa. 2 United Nations. Report to the Secretary General UNRWA Strategic Assessment,” 2025., accessed July 23, 2025, https://www.un.org/pga/wp-content/uploads/sites/109/2025/07/Report-to-theSecretary-General-UNRWA-Strategic-Assessment-20-June-2025-002.pdf. 1