GNQP Affirms Support for UN Mandate and Palestine Refugee Rights

On 14 July 2025, ARDD’s Global Network on the Question of Palestine (GNQP) held an emergency meeting to discuss the recently imposed US sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in occupied Palestine as well as the recently published report on the Strategic Assessment of UNRWA conducted by humanitarian diplomat Ian Martin. The well-attended meeting expressed strong solidarity with Ms. Albanese and explored several tangible actions to support her mandate.
With respect to Mr. Martin’s report, the meeting received a briefing by special guest Mona Khalil, who has just published the first analysis of the report (see: https://passblue.com/2025/07/14/saving-unrwa-and-keeping-the-uns-promise-to-palestine-refugees/). Among others, the report makes the case for a further strengthening of UNRWA’s role to protect “Palestine refugee rights and legal identity must be sustained and enhanced at a time when these are under attack, to enable Palestine refugees to claim their right of return, and preserve the foundations for a just and durable political solution.” The report also asserts that given the unprecedented Israeli attacks on UNRWA which exacerbated the agency’s pre-existing financial upheaval, scenarios may present themselves resulting in either a “disorderly collapse” of the agency or a “managed transfer of state-like services to government providers.” Following Khalil’s presentation, participants reflected on the report’s implications and agreed that it merited more in-depth reflection.