Sweden’s approach to UNRWA mired in domestic politics as Gazan children suffer

A recent article in Development Today gives a moving image of the perseverance and determination of Palestinian educators, parents, and children after two years of relentless and indiscriminate violence. In damaged homes and ruined school buildings, and lacking teaching materials which are denied entry into Gaza by the Israeli Defence Force, they resort to virtual schooling and make use of everyday objects to teach basic math and literacy.

Every hour of schooling has inherent value for those involved, in the short and long term. Education provides a road out of adversity and represents a vision of a better future for the next generation. And in the present, it builds the protective space where children who have faced their own death, the trauma of losing siblings and parents, and suffered injuries, can take the first small steps towards a healing that likely will never be complete. Education services will be a building block in any future Palestinian governance structure, whatever form it may take.

The Ministry of Education was one of the first institutions within the newly formed Palestinian Authority in 1994. That is why the education programme of UNRWA has such priority in terms of staff, infrastructure, and budget and why its services have been resumed in Gaza as soon as the smallest opportunity arose, as illustrated in the DT story. But this is also why Israel’s disinformation campaign against UNRWA is so persistent, even though the Israeli military long held the view that the agency was a stabilizing force in the occupied territories.

Any donor with the ambition of helping to alleviate the suffering of children and stabilize their lives in Gaza understands the role of education activities. The major donors of UNRWA thus continue their support, with the glaring absence of the United States and Sweden. That the United States has ceased its funding for UNRWA is hardly surprising. More alarming is the decision by Sweden - one of the agency’s most reliable donors over decades - to follow suit.

To justify this move, which was announced in December 2024, the Swedish government cited the uncertain status of UNRWA, resulting from the two Knesset decisions, to curtail its activities and stopped its funding. At the time of the Swedish decision, the bills had not even taken effect. Sweden’s defunding of UNRWA affected not only Gaza, but also all agency programmes for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, where the Knesset has no reach. The Swedish Minister for Development Cooperation and Trade Benjamin Dousa has repeatedly stated, in a mantra-like fashion, that the reason for the Swedish decision is that “UNRWA’s trucks could not cross the border into Gaza.” But given the timing and reach of the decision, it was obvious there were other motives.

The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel’s relations vis-à-vis the UN, including UNRWA, in the occupied territories was issued on October 22, 2025. The Court found that Israel was in violation of its obligations to facilitate relief activities and that UNRWA’s operations could not be replicated by other UN bodies. The Court found no evidence for Israel’s allegations that UNRWA was infiltrated by Hamas.

When asked by Development Today to comment on the ICJ ruling, the Swedish MFA – as it must – emphasized the significance of the advisory opinion, confirmed Sweden’s support for the central role of UNRWA, and criticized Israel’s refusal to meet its obligations under international law. But, with a schizophrenic turn, and disregarding the ICJ’s assessment that UNRWA cannot be replicated, the ministry simultaneously stated that in view of “the overall picture and uncertainties surrounding UNRWA” it remains justified to channel support to other actors.  

Despite the advisory opinion and independent assessments of UNRWA’s integrity, Minister Dousa continues to align himself with Israeli anti-UNRWA smears and disinformation: “year after year there have been accusations and concrete evidence that it has not stayed clean of extremists, antisemites and terrorists”, he said in an interview with the daily Svenska Dagbladet on September 24, 2025.

The message is clear: no matter the evidence and the opinions of the world court, Sweden has no intention of resuming its support for UNRWA.

One does not have to go far to find the reasons for Sweden’s self-contradictory position. The two junior parties in the Swedish coalition government, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, have long held the view that the very existence of UNRWA perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem of 1948 and thus prevents the settlement of the conflict. Like the Israeli government, they argue for the dismantling of UNRWA.

For its parliamentary majority, the Conservative-led coalition government depends on the external support of the Sweden Democrats, a right-wing, nationalist party with neo-Nazi roots. Because of its past, the Israeli government has until recently refused to have anything to do with the Sweden Democrats Party. For its part, the Sweden Democrats have made it a political priority to gain the acceptance of Israel and be invited in from the cold. Declaring itself Israel’s best friend in Sweden, the party’s strategy includes giving all-out support to Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war and adopting an anti-UNRWA position. Its efforts have now been rewarded: in March 2025, the Sweden Democrats were invited by the Israeli government to attend a conference on antisemitism.

Traditionally, Dousa’s own conservative party has not held an anti-UNRWA position. But interest speaks and power corrupts. Hence, the position of the coalition partners and the Sweden Democrats has become Swedish policy.

The mandate of UNRWA, issued by the UN General Assembly in 1949, has been continuously reconfirmed, with Swedish votes, since then. Given Sweden’s stated defence of international law and the ICJ findings, it would be a step too far for the government to openly question UNRWA’s role and mandate. Instead, the vacuous argument for defunding the agency offered by the government is that UNRWA trucks are being stopped at the Gaza border.  

Most UN agencies have acknowledged their dependence on UNRWA staff and infrastructure to be able to operate in Gaza. Just last week, the World Health Organisation reported that it is partnering with UNRWA for a catch-up vaccination campaign for children who have been out of reach during the war.

It is therefore disappointing to see UNICEF making use of UNRWA’s exposed position by presenting itself as the sole provider of education in Gaza, a behaviour that is facilitated by Sweden’s actions.

One can only hope that UNRWA and its staff will receive sufficient resources so that the children and their parents in Gaza can begin the slow and cumbersome reconstruction of their lives and futures in classrooms under the sky, in tents or in proper school buildings, even if it will be without the support of Sweden.

Sweden’s reputation as a trusted and principled actor in contested spaces will likely also take time to rebuild.

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Johan Schaar is an Associate Senior Fellow at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and served in the Swedish Consulate General in Jerusalem 2013-17.