Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) pledged $10 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), money the agency explained will help ensure vital education and health programs keep going across the area. UNRWA announced the news on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, and thanked Qatar in an X post.
This support enables us to continue delivering life-saving services, education and health, to Palestine refugees in the region,” the agency said on X.
The pledge comes against a difficult operating environment within Gaza and the West Bank. Border crossing points into Gaza on March 2 were closed, drastically limiting aid movements and complicating relief work, according to the U.N. humanitarian office OCHA .
Israel also waited a year to restrict contact with UNRWA. In October 2024, the Knesset enacted to restrict official contact with the organization and bar its activities in areas of Israel under its administration, with key provisions taking effect in January 2025.
Set up in 1949 by the U.N. General Assembly, UNRWA provides education, primary healthcare, camp services, and emergency relief to registered Palestine refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
The war has come with a high price for humanitarian staff. At least 562 relief workers, 376 of them U.N. staff, have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, the U.N. spokesperson’s office said on Oct. 3.
Qatar has been a resounding champion this year. In June, a stand-alone $20 million core contribution agreement was signed between QFFD and UNRWA to support the agency’s programmes in 2025–2026.
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