Gaza: the record ·
UNRWA: the aid agency Israel set out to dismantle
UNRWA is the backbone of aid in Gaza. Israel accused its staff, cut it off by law, and hundreds of its workers were killed. An independent review found Israel had not backed its main claim with evidence.
The lifeline
UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, runs schools, clinics and food distribution for millions of people. In Gaza, where about seven in ten people are refugees from 1948 and their descendants, it was the largest humanitarian organization on the ground.
The allegations
In January 2024, Israel alleged that 12 UNRWA staff had taken part in the 7 October attack. Major donors suspended funding within days. An independent review led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna reported in April 2024 that Israel had not provided supporting evidence for its wider claim that a significant number of UNRWA staff were members of armed groups.
Banned by law
In October 2024, the Knesset passed two laws by large majorities: one banning UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory, and one barring Israeli authorities from any contact with it, crippling its work in Gaza and the West Bank. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the ban would have catastrophic consequences.
Staff killed
By August 2025, nearly 360 UNRWA personnel had been killed in Gaza, according to the agency's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, the highest number of UN staff killed in any conflict. UNRWA schools sheltering displaced families were struck repeatedly.
Watch NAZA
NAZA is Israeli military slang for collateral damage: the number of civilians an officer is allowed to kill in a strike. In this documentary, 24 Israeli intelligence officers and soldiers, many from the army's most prestigious units, explain how that number was set, approved and exceeded in Gaza. What they describe is not a tragic accident of war but a system: targets tracked to their family homes, families watched for days, strikes approved knowing children were inside.
In cinemas now, and free worldwide on theguardian.com after the cinema run.
