Palestine Refugees can be protected amid the immense political, financial and operational pressure the Agency is under.”3 Unfortunately, this subsequent Assessment did not defend UNRWA’s legal mandate or reaffirm its foundational role in protecting refugee rights. Instead, it reframed the Agency’s future as a political burden to be managed, rather than an international responsibility to be upheld, outlining four proposed scenarios: (i) inaction and potential collapse of UNRWA; (ii) reduction of services; (iii) institutionalizing collective responsibility; and (iv) maintaining UNRWA’s rights-based core while gradually transferring service delivery. Though a purportedly technical and operational response to a United Nations (UN) request, the Assessment ultimately normalizes and renders inevitable the dismantling of the Agency - rather than reinforcing its mandate. All scenarios advance a political agenda that bypass the foundational commitments of the UN system to Palestinian refugees. As UNRWA struggles to continue to serve millions amid genocide in the Gaza Strip and mass forcible displacement in the West Bank, the Assessment threatens to institutionalize its collapse and dismantlement in all areas of operation. 2. Decontextualization of the Mandate The Assessment acknowledges UNRWA’s legal establishment through the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 3024 and its responsibility to provide humanitarian protection for Palestinian refugees 2 3 United Nations. Press Conference by UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini in Berlin. UNRWA. accessed July 23, 2025, https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/ press-conference-unrwa-commissioner-general-philippe-lazzarini-berlin. 4 United Nations. General Assembly, Resolution 302 (IV): Assistance to Palestine Refugees, adopted 8 December 1949, https://www.unrwa.org/content/general-assembly-resolution-302.