UNRWA is the only major UN body dedicated exclusively to one conflict and one people and holds a symbolic role that experts say matches its importance as provider for Palestinian refugees.
Although donors committed an extra $38 million this year, UNRWA said a funding shortage posed a threat to the agency that provides social welfare to Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
The Biden administration has moved away from Trump-era voting patterns on Israel-Palestine issues after the US abstained on a UN resolution supporting Palestinian refugees right to return to occupied territories.
The UN Human Rights Council is discussing a broad, international investigation into violations in the latest Israeli attacks on besieged Gaza, but also of "systematic" abuses in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said that Gaza's reconstruction needs to be accompanied by "a genuine political process," during a visit to the Palestinian enclave after Israel's devastating strikes.
Gaza health officials fear further outbreaks of Covid-19 among tens of thousands of displaced residents crowded into makeshift shelters after fleeing massive barrages from Israel military.
Israeli airstrikes on scores of residential buildings has led Amnesty International to call for a war crimes probe, as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens.
More than 42,000 Palestinians in besieged Gaza are internally displaced as they flee Israeli air strikes and seek shelter in UNRWA schools and elsewhere, the refugee agency says.
The $235 million in funding is in addition to $15 million earlier announced by Washington in Covid-19 assistance to the Palestinians.
UNRWA spokesperson told TRT World that although Abu Dhabi will be rallying behind Tel Aviv's long-standing demand of scrapping the UNRWA, "the UN agency will continue to work as long as other states support them."
UN's relief agency for Palestine refugees says it's confident US President-elect Joe Biden will restore "humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people" cut by Trump administration.
Tel Aviv is trying to punish Palestine's celebrity singer Mohammed Assaf for singing patriotic songs and the UAE is part of that effort.
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