H.R.9680 - Replace UNRWA with Real Humanitarian Assistance Act
H.R.9860, was introduced on July 14, 2026 by Representative Michael Lawler. It is currently pending before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and has 30 cosponsors on a bipartisan basis.
Related legislation: H.R.7565, H.R.2411
Bill Summary: H.R. 9680 would require the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to phase out and ultimately dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The strategy must include a timeline for transferring UNRWA's education, healthcare, and social service programs to host governments or other international and nongovernmental organizations, identify alternative funding sources, assess the humanitarian, political, and security implications of the transition, and ensure continuity of essential services. The State Department would be required to begin implementing the strategy within one year while coordinating with U.S. agencies, host governments, and international partners.
Context: H.R. 9680 builds on a series of U.S. and Israeli efforts to delegitimize UNRWA following allegations that 12 of the agency's employees in Gaza participated in Hamas' October 7, 2023 attacks. In January 2024, the Biden administration suspended funding to UNRWA, a policy later codified by Congress through the March 2024 appropriations bills. The Trump administration subsequently extended the funding freeze through executive action, arguing that UNRWA had been infiltrated by foreign terrorist organizations. However, multiple independent reviews found no evidence of systemic institutional infiltration and concluded that UNRWA maintains one of the UN's most robust neutrality frameworks. Since 2011, UNRWA has regularly shared staff rosters with Israeli authorities, strengthened its neutrality policies, and immediately dismissed the 12 accused employees pending investigation, although Israel later acknowledged one individual was misidentified and failed to substantiate the remaining allegations.
Israel has since taken additional steps to curtail UNRWA's operations. In October 2024, the Knesset barred UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory and prohibited Israeli officials from communicating with the agency, limiting its ability to coordinate humanitarian operations and investigate future allegations. At the same time, Israeli authorities have sought to impose restrictive registration requirements on dozens of international humanitarian organizations, such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Oxfam, limiting the very organizations that could be expected to replace UNRWA. As a result, H.R. 9680 proposes replacing UNRWA without a viable alternative, raising questions about the feasibility of its alternative humanitarian framework.
H.R. 9680 would direct the State Department to develop and implement a strategy to entirely dismantle UNRWA and transfer its responsibilities to host governments or unspecified international and nongovernmental organizations. The bill identifies no entity with the infrastructure or capacity to assume UNRWA's responsibilities, including operating schools and health clinics, maintaining refugee registration, and delivering essential services to nearly six million refugees across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. At a time when Gaza faces catastrophic humanitarian conditions and Palestinians across the occupied territories confront widespread displacement, hunger, and collapsing civilian infrastructure, eliminating the largest humanitarian provider serving Palestinian refugees would jeopardize life-saving assistance. Rather than reforming humanitarian aid, the bill eliminates the only international agency with a dedicated mandate to serve Palestinian refugees, fragmenting a system that has operated for more than seven decades.
American Values Analysis: H.R. 9680 conflicts with American values of compassion, humanitarian leadership, and the protection of civilian life. By eliminating the primary provider of education, healthcare, and emergency assistance for Palestinian refugees without a viable alternative, the bill risks worsening one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises and undermining the United States' longstanding commitment to alleviating human suffering.
American Interest Analysis: H.R. 9680 runs counter to U.S. interests in regional stability and effective humanitarian coordination. Dismantling UNRWA risks worsening humanitarian conditions, increasing instability across the region, and diminishing U.S. influence over the international humanitarian response. The failures of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and security concerns surrounding distribution sites further show the consequences of substituting UNRWA's longstanding infrastructure with a less effective mechanism.
A New Policy’s Recommendation: OPPOSE
A New Policy opposes H.R. 9680 because it directs the dismantling of the primary institution providing education, healthcare, and humanitarian assistance to nearly six million Palestinian refugees. The bill would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, undermine regional stability, and weaken U.S. leadership in international humanitarian efforts.
For more information please contact: Josh Paul, (202) 770-0055, info@anewpolicy.org
