How is Israel trying to demonize UNRWA and eliminate the Palestinian refugee issue?

The Israeli incitement machine against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has not quieted down over the past three months, as social media platforms have been flooded with a coordinated wave of systematic accusations, coinciding with official statements from Israeli officials describing the agency as a "terrorist arm," in a clear attempt to undermine its legitimacy and eliminate the Palestinian refugee issue.

The attack on UNRWA is not new; Israel has been trying for decades to end its role, but it intensified its campaign following the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation launched by Palestinian resistance factions on October 7, 2023. Since that date, Tel Aviv has unleashed a wide chorus of voices in the digital space, aiming to delegitimize the agency and sever its connection to the Palestinian cause.

In this context, the "Al Jazeera Investigates" team conducted a network analysis to monitor interaction patterns on the "X" platform between early June and September. The monitoring included about 5,000 tweets, revealing threads of a coordinated campaign aimed at damaging UNRWA's image by flooding the digital space with claims linking it to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and presenting it as a front for armed action.

With the expansion of the digital campaign, a coordinated incitement discourse emerged, placing UNRWA at the center of the targeting, as tweets from dozens of influential Israeli and Western accounts repeated the incitement rhetoric against it. Some of these accounts are institutional, affiliated with official entities such as the occupation army and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while others are led by activists known for their bias towards the Israeli narrative, such as Hillel Neuer, who continuously portrays the agency as "an arm of Hamas" or "a terrorist organization."

Among the most prominent of these voices is the account "VividProwess," which has taken a systematic line to link UNRWA with Hamas and label it as a factory for producing "terrorists." The account has repeated the same allegations through recurring tweets, focusing on demonizing the agency's students and presenting its schools as incubators for extremism.

Hillel Neuer represents the most prominent incitement voice, relying on reports from the "UN Watch" organization, which he heads, combining a seemingly documented accusatory style by mentioning names, positions, and links, with direct political rhetoric that classifies UNRWA as a "terrorism agency." His posts often revolve around attacking the agency's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, linking the agency to Hamas, and promoting a narrative that claims taxpayers in countries like Sweden, Britain, and Canada are funding "terrorism" by supporting UNRWA.

In addition, other accounts have been active in disseminating similar rhetoric, collectively forming an integrated network that has repeated the same allegations over the past three months, in an attempt to establish a negative image of the UN agency in Western digital consciousness.

The visual map of the network analysis conducted by the "Al Jazeera Investigates" team reveals that the campaign against UNRWA is not limited to official Israeli platforms but extends to a wide network of "digital accounts" distributed among political activists and influencers on social media. These individuals work to recycle the Israeli incitement narrative and expand its reach, in an effort to undermine the image of the UN agency and strip it of its legitimacy, paving the way to weaken the Palestinian refugee file and prepare international public opinion to accept its liquidation.

Commenting on these efforts, UNRWA's media advisor Dr. Adnan Abu Hasna stated in remarks to "Al Jazeera Investigates" that the Israeli incitement campaign is "organized and takes on broad dimensions," pointing out that Tel Aviv has spent millions of dollars to link the agency to what is called "terrorism," through advertising campaigns targeting search engines like Google, and advertisements in American and European streets, in addition to attempts to influence the parliaments of several Western countries.

Abu Hasna added that "these accusations have never been proven, and there is no evidence for them," noting that Israel has refused to cooperate with investigation committees and UNRWA, which makes what it promotes "mere allegations aimed at liquidating the agency, tarnishing its reputation, undermining its operations, and stripping it of its legitimacy."

The Israeli targeting of UNRWA has not been limited to the digital space but has extended to a public incitement campaign led by extremist ministers and Knesset members, who have supported bills seeking to ban the agency and halt its operations within the Palestinian territories, as part of parallel political efforts to the digital smear campaigns.

Our follow-ups indicate that Israel has also begun to exploit Israeli and foreign content creators, employing them as propaganda tools to distort the image