U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Thursday led Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) in introducing legislation that would restore U.S. congressional funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Vermont Business Journal reported Friday.

Senator Welch’s legislation will help address the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank by reversing the funding ban on UNRWA contained in legislative appropriations bills and directing the U.S. Department of State to revoke the temporary suspension of funding to UNRWA. The legislation expresses congressional support for allocating critical funds to UNRWA in the FY 2025 appropriations package.

The overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats consider UNRWA essential to the humanitarian response in Gaza and the only organization currently able to provide essential services in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. They argue that funding restrictions from the United States, as well as the Israeli Knesset’s recent passage of legislation to end the agency’s operations in occupied East Jerusalem and prevent it from carrying out tasks necessary to operate in Gaza, jeopardize UNRWA’s ability to safely deliver humanitarian assistance to those in need.

“Since day one of this conflict, UNRWA has proven to be the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza. It is unacceptable that this entire organization – and the civilian population of Gaza and the West Bank – should pay such a devastating price for the actions of a few individuals,” said Senator Welch, who called for the restoration of U.S. funding to UNRWA. “As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, supporting humanitarian assistance is more important than ever,” said Senator Welch.

“Congress must pass this legislation to ensure that UNRWA can safely provide humanitarian assistance to hungry women, children and families desperate for food, medicine and shelter,” they added.

“UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza and does critical work across the region,” said Senator Sanders. “With hundreds of thousands of people starving in Gaza — including tens of thousands of children — the United States must stand with UN aid workers who are trying to provide food, water, and medical care to millions of innocent people.”

“UNRWA is not only the primary means of distributing much-needed food and medical aid in Gaza, but it also provides essential education and health care services to millions of Palestinians in the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan,” said Senator Van Hollen. “Innocent civilians in Gaza and beyond who rely on UNRWA should not be punished for the unacceptable actions of a few staff members — who have rightfully been terminated and must be held fully accountable. The suspension of funding to the agency has crippled its efforts at a time when its humanitarian support is more critical than ever, and we must restore U.S. funding to UNRWA to ensure it has the resources it needs to carry out its critical humanitarian work.”

“UNRWA plays a critical role in providing essential social services and life-saving humanitarian assistance such as food and medicine in Gaza, the West Bank, and throughout the region,” said Senator Hirono. “After identifying and implementing critical reforms to UNRWA, this legislation will reauthorize hundreds of millions of dollars in State Department funding to ensure UNRWA can continue to provide much-needed assistance to millions of Palestinian civilians currently suffering in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. There is simply no alternative to UNRWA when it comes to delivering food and other life-saving assistance in Gaza.”

In response to allegations that fewer than 12 of UNRWA’s approximately 13,000 employees participated in the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, Congress included in the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Act a provision prohibiting US funding to UNRWA until March 25, 2025. After UNRWA was informed of the Israeli government’s allegations, UNRWA dismissed the employees in question. UNRWA has since undergone an independent review and developed a high-level action plan to implement the reform recommendations. Following the completion of these steps and by the end of the UN review, every country that had suspended contributions to UNRWA, except the United States, has resumed funding the agency.

The UNRWA Emergency Funding Restoration Act has been endorsed by 75 organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Friends Committee for National Legislation, Demand Progress, TIMEP, Human Rights First, Norwegian Refugee Council, Human Rights First, Borgen Project, KinderUSA, American Friends Service Committee, Church World Service, Peace Action, Center for Middle East Democracy, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), Center for International Policy, and Win Without War.

“For more than a year now, the catastrophic suffering caused by Israel’s blocking of humanitarian access and other actions in the occupied Gaza Strip has been on full display – and it is getting worse,” said Elizabeth Raghibi, Amnesty International USA’s Middle East and North Africa Advocacy Director, in a press statement. “UNRWA has played an indispensable role in providing food, water, medical assistance, education and shelter to nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza. This legislation comes as a critical moment after the Israeli government moved to ban UNRWA, effectively criminalizing humanitarian aid. “Congress must act quickly to pass this legislation to urgently restore US funding to ensure that Palestinian refugees in the region receive the life-saving humanitarian aid and essential services they need.”

“If we want peace and prosperity in the Middle East, and peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, funding UNRWA is critical. Without the essential humanitarian services UNRWA provides to millions of Palestinians, these dreams would be further from reality, not closer,” said Sean Carroll, president and CEO of ANERA. “Defunding UNRWA would represent a catastrophic failure of our moral and humanitarian obligations. UNRWA is an irreplaceable lifeline for more than six million Palestinian refugees, providing essential medical care, food, shelter, and hope in the face of unimaginable hardship. We must protect U.S. funding, especially during an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. We must assert our role as global humanitarian leaders and act decisively to protect innocent lives.”

“This effort to restore U.S. support for aid in Gaza could not be more urgent,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Washington director at Human Rights Watch, in a press release on the effort by Senator Welch and his colleagues. “If the United States says it cares about the hungry people of Gaza, it should restore funding to the agency that feeds the people of Gaza. There is simply no alternative to UNRWA.”