for 1948 refugees (including IDPs), notably by facilitating “the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation” for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property. The UNCCP was specifically endowed by the General Assembly in Resolution 194 with a protection mandate that encompassed the rights, properties and interests of Palestinian refugees. In essence, the agency was established with a dual mandate: to seek conciliation between the parties of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and to provide protection to the refugees, notably by safeguarding their right of return and their right of restitution of property. Regarding the latter, as mentioned, in 1949 the UNCCP did issue a demand that Israel suspend the Emergency Regulations (Absentees’ Property) Law until a final peace settlement was reached, and issued a further demand for refugees’ property to be placed in the category ‎of “enemy property” under a custodian. It also requested the suspension of all measures of requisition and occupation of Palestinian houses, and the reuniting, in their homes, of refugees belonging to the same family. Despite these and other numerous steps undertaken, UNCCP’s power gradually decreased throughout its short period of activity; its objective shifting from the realization of repatriation for Palestinian refugees to mere information gathering on refugee property in Israel and investigation on the possibility of compensation.167 By the mid-1950s, the agency effectively ceased its functions, essentially as a result of Israel’s refusal to work in cooperation with it, several internal disputes among its members, and the international community’s unwillingness to support it in the fulfillment of its mandate.168 Although it was never officially abolished, the UNCCP ceased to make a substantial contribution towards the implementation of its protection mandate: to this day, the only annually published report by the UNCCP is a one-page document stating that “it has nothing new to report”.169 United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) UNRWA was established by UN Resolution 302 to work in parallel with UNCCP, complementing its actions by providing essential humanitarian and relief 167 See, e.g. Susan Akram, “Palestinian Refugees and their Legal Status: Rights, Politics and Implications for a Just Solution”, Journal of Palestine Studies, 31, No. 3, (2002):36-51; Dr Lena El-Malak, “Palestinian Refugees in International Law: Status, Challenges, and Solutions”, Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, 2006, 20(3), p. 187. 168 BADIL, The United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, Protection, and a Durable Solution for Palestinian Refugees, Information & Discussion Brief, Issue No. 5, June 2000, available at: http:// badil.org/phocadownload/Badil_docs/bulletins-and-briefs/Brief-No.5.pdf 169 UNCCP, Seventy-first Report, A/72/332, 15 August 2017, available at: https://undocs.org/A/72/332 [accessed 27 Jul 2018]. 56