EXCLUSIVE: UNRWA officials pressed for opposition to a possible Trump administration effort to label the U.N. agency a foreign terrorist organization and talked about UNRWA’s current operations in Gaza and the West Bank—including cash assistance—during a Dec. 17 briefing, Digital has learned.
The virtual meeting was organized by UNRWA USA, the U.S. nonprofit that supports the agency through advocacy and fundraising. UNRWA USA Executive Director Mara Kronenfeld opened the briefing by saying the goal was to make clear UNRWA “is still on the ground” in Gaza and the West Bank despite what she described as “the Netanyahu government’s insidious efforts to systematically prevent UNRWA from continuing its life-saving humanitarian work.”
During the session, presenters also raised reports that the U.S. government was considering designating UNRWA a foreign terrorist organization and discussed with congressional offices what steps could be taken to “help prevent that and support UNRWA in its critical work,” according to meeting details reviewed by Digital.
Bill Deere, UNRWA’s Washington director, said “press reports appear to be true” that the U.S. was weighing a foreign terrorist organization designation for the agency.
“This would be unprecedented for a U.N. agency to consider this. It is certainly unwarranted,” Deere said, asserting that “four separate independent investigations” dispute Israel’s allegations about UNRWA’s workforce.
Deere called on congressional offices to respond forcefully.
“You can loudly express your displeasure,” Deere said, arguing that the ramifications would extend beyond UNRWA and set a precedent affecting the broader U.N. system.
“If they go ahead and do this, our recourse with regard to this is limited,” he said, adding that one step that could be taken is that “Congress can override the designation.”
The meeting featured UNRWA field leaders describing conditions and operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
Sam Rose, UNRWA’s Gaza affairs director, told participants that international staff were not entering Gaza because of the , and operations were being managed remotely.
Rose said that despite claims UNRWA has been blocked, the agency’s services in Gaza haven’t stopped for a single day—citing primary healthcare, education, water and sanitation work, shelter operations and the use of UNRWA facilities as emergency shelters.
Rose also talked about the agency’s ability to run programs that don’t rely on immediate supply deliveries.
“Cash assistance and job creation programs are also able to continue,” he said, adding, “we’re able to operate at scale.”
Roland Friedrich, introduced as UNRWA’s West Bank affairs director, outlined the agency’s reach in the territory—including education, healthcare and assistance programs. He said UNRWA supports hundreds of thousands of , with aid that “can be cash assistance” alongside other forms like food vouchers and social protection payments.
Friedrich also detailed “cash for rent” assistance for displaced people and argued that UNRWA’s presence plays a stabilizing role across multiple regional countries.
Officials also discussed workarounds that allow UNRWA to keep operating under restrictions.
Rose said UNRWA still receives fuel and that some coordination happens through third parties, describing indirect engagement involving . He noted fuel powers generators and water pumps and emphasized the importance of keeping basic services running.
On aid flows, Rose said Israel reports 600 trucks per day and that he had no reason to doubt the overall count. At the same time, he argued the mix of goods entering has shifted—commercial supplies now play a larger role while certain humanitarian items remain restricted for U.N. agencies. He described what he called a two-tier system, where some items blocked from U.N. use can enter through private channels.
Beyond operational discussions, the briefing included explicit advocacy aimed at congressional offices.
Kronenfeld urged participants to described in the meeting as the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2025, and thanked offices already backing efforts to restore U.S. funding—noting the U.S. was historically UNRWA’s largest donor before the 2024 funding halt.
UNRWA USA did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Digital. UNRWA also did not respond.
William Deere, director of the UNRWA Representative Office in Washington, D.C., provided the following statement in response to a request for comment from Digital:
“UNRWA participates in briefings hosted by the UNRWA USA National Committee and attended by bicameral groups of Republican and Democratic staff from Capitol Hill, as well as think tanks and nongovernmental organizations. Briefings like these are important opportunities for the Agency to respond to the government of Israel’s ongoing disinformation campaign suggesting that UNRWA is no longer actively working in Gaza. Quite the opposite is true. Every day, UNRWA staff are delivering critical services in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In fact, in a recent letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, UNRWA thanked President Trump for negotiating the ceasefire, which allows the world to turn to Gaza’s future.”
Deere added: “In Gaza, UNRWA medical personnel deliver 40 percent of primary healthcare and play a critical role in distributing water, promoting public health through immunization campaigns, pest control, nutrition screenings, and the disposal of solid waste. UNRWA is also leading the way in Gaza education, stepping up its ‘back to learning’ program, with almost 70,000 children now accessing the Agency’s in-person learning activities. The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is also a challenging area in which to work, especially given the various laws approved by the Israeli Knesset, and policymakers are always interested to hear the impacts of these laws firsthand from our experts.”