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Exclusive: Fox News Digital has learned that UNRWA officials urged congressional staffers to oppose a potential Trump administration move to designate the UN agency as a foreign terrorist organization and discussed UNRWA’s ongoing operations in Gaza and the West Bank, including cash-based assistance, during a December 17 briefing.
The video conference was organized by UNRWA USA, the US non-profit that supports the agency through advocacy and fundraising. UNRWA USA Executive Director Mara Kronenfeld opened the briefing, saying the goal was to make clear that 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 meeting, briefers also raised reports that the U.S. government was considering designating UNRWA as a foreign terrorist organization and discussed with congressional offices what steps could be taken to “help prevent this and support UNRWA in its vital work,” according to minutes of the meeting reviewed by Fox News Digital.
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A Palestinian boy walks past a UNRWA school sheltering displaced people affected by the overnight Israeli offensive in Gaza City on July 5, 2025. (Dawood Abu Alqas/Reuters)
Bill Deere, UNRWA director in Washington, said “press reports appear to be true” that the administration was considering a Foreign Terrorist Organization designation for the agency.
“It would be unprecedented for a UN agency to even consider this. It is certainly inappropriate,” Deere said, adding that “four separate independent investigations” refute Israel’s allegations regarding UNRWA’s workforce.
Deere urged Congress offices to respond forcefully.
“You can express your displeasure loudly,” Deere said, arguing that the impact would extend beyond UNRWA and set a precedent that would affect the broader UN system.
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A truck marked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo enters Egypt from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Rafah, Egypt, on November 27, 2023. (Amar Abdullah Dalsh/Reuters)
“If they go ahead and do that, our recourse in that regard is limited,” he said, adding that one step that could be taken is that “Congress could eliminate the designation.”
At the meeting, UNRWA regional leadership described the conditions and operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
Sam Rose, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, told participants that international personnel were not entering Gaza due to Israeli Knesset law, and operations were being managed remotely.
Rose said that despite claims that UNRWA has been blocked, the agency’s services in Gaza have not stopped for a single day, pointing to the use of UNRWA facilities for primary health care, education, water and sanitation work, shelter operations and as emergency shelters.
Rose also described the agency’s ability to operate programs that are not dependent on immediate supply delivery.
“Cash assistance and job creation programs have also been able to continue,” he said, adding, “We have been able to operate on a larger scale.”
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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Gaza, June 2023. (Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Roland Friedrich, introduced as Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank, described the scale of UNRWA in the region, including education, health care and aid programs. He said UNRWA provides assistance to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, including “cash assistance” as well as other forms such as food vouchers and social security payments.
Frederick also described “cash-for-rent” aid for displaced people and argued that UNRWA’s presence plays a stabilizing role in many countries in the region.
Officials also discussed solutions that allow UNRWA to continue operating under sanctions.
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Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), at a press conference in Jerusalem on October 27, 2023. (Mustafa Alkharaouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Rose said UNRWA was still able to obtain fuel and that some coordination had taken place through third parties, describing indirect engagement involving UN channels. He said the fuel can run power generators and water pumps and stressed the importance of keeping basic services running.
On aid flows, Rose said Israel is reporting the number of trucks arriving has reached 600 per day, and he said he has no reason to doubt the total number. At the same time, he argued that the mix of goods entering has changed, with commercial supplies playing a larger role while some humanitarian goods remain restricted to UN agencies. He described a two-tier system, where some objects blocked from UN access could enter through private channels.
Beyond operational discussion, the briefing included explicit advocacy aimed at congressional offices.
Kronenfeld urged participants at the meeting to support legislation he described as the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2025, and he thanked the offices supporting efforts to restore U.S. funding, noting the United States was historically UNRWA’s largest donor before funding was halted in 2024.
UNRWA USA did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital. UNRWA also did not respond.
William Deere, Director of the UNRWA Representative Office in Washington, DC, provided the following statement in response to Fox News Digital’s request for comment:
“UNRWA participates in briefings organized by the UNRWA USA National Committee and attended by bipartisan groups of Republican and Democratic staffers on Capitol Hill, as well as think tanks and non-governmental organizations. Such briefings are important opportunities for the agency to respond to the Israeli government’s ongoing disinformation campaign that suggests UNRWA is no longer actively working in Gaza. Quite the opposite is true. Every day, UNRWA staff are providing vital services in Gaza and the West, including in East Jerusalem. In fact, in a recent letter to the US Government Accountability Office, UNRWA thanked President Trump for negotiating a ceasefire that allows the world to turn to Gaza.
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Palestinians protest outside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza City against cuts in food aid provided to refugees on June 20, 2023. (Majdi Fathi/TPS)
Deere said: “In Gaza, UNRWA medical personnel provide 40 percent of primary health care and play a vital role in promoting public health through distributing water, vaccination campaigns, pest control, nutrition screening and disposal of solid waste. UNRWA Gaza is also a leader in education, leading its ‘Back to Learning’ programme, with approximately 70,000 children now accessing the agency’s personalized learning activities. The West Bank, including Jerusalem, is also a challenging area to work in, especially given the various laws approved by the Israeli Knesset, and policymakers are always interested in hearing firsthand from our experts about the impacts of these laws.”
