marginalizes other non-donor states and those outside of the Executive Board, while widening the door for states complicit in the Israeli genocide of Gaza and their conditionality. Such a move would further detach the Agency from its rights-based mandate into a donor-governed aid provider. Ultimately, this shift would marginalize refugee voices, increase the risk of institutional capture, and pave the way for UNRWA’s depoliticization and eventual collapse. It would be more appropriate and effective for the UNGA to incorporate UNRWA’s core budget into the UN’s regular assessed budget. The UNGA has the authority to impose assessed contributions—mandatory payments by member states—for UN operations. Just as the budgets of many UN bodies (like UNESCO or UNHCR) are partially or fully funded through the regular UN budget,26 the UNGA could integrate a larger portion of UNRWA’s core funding into the UN’s regular budget or establish a dedicated assessed fund, ensuring stable and predictable financing. This solution to UNRWA’s ongoing funding deficits reflects the legal and moral responsibility of the international community for the protection and support of Palestinian refugees, stemming from their displacement in 1948 and the ongoing denial of their right of return. Alternatively, a complementary special fund could be established to for UNRWA, drawing on mandatory state contributions and revenues from Palestinian refugees’ properties confiscated by the Israeli regime— resources the UN has a legal and moral duty to manage in trust for the 26 Under Articles 17 and 57 of the UN Charter, the UNGA holds the authority to approve the United Nations’ budget and apportion its expenses among Member States through assessed contributions—mandatory payments based on capacity to pay to UN agencies. While some UN entities receive core funding through this assessed system, others, like UNRWA, rely entirely on voluntary contributions from Member States. Coalescing the UN’s budget with UNRWA’s would uphold the mandate of UNGA Resolution 302. See the Charter of the United Nations, Articles 17 and 57, accessed July 31, 2025, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/fulltext, and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office, “Total Revenue of the UN System,” Financing the UN, accessed July 31, 2025, https://financingun. report/un-financing/un-funding/total-revenue-un-system. 11