Funding Shortfalls Deepen Hardship for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

UNRWA, the agency that has supported Palestinian refugees across the Middle East since 1950, has cut services in Lebanon, where funding shortfalls have reduced its working hours by 20 percent since February, Al Jazeera reported.

Lebanon has 12 Palestinian refugee camps, and approximately 230,000 Palestinians live in the country. The majority are de facto stateless, meaning they do not have Lebanese citizenship, and they rely heavily on services such as schools and clinics run by the agency.

In October, UNRWA spokesperson Fadi al-Tayyar said the agency needed around $70 million to $80 million more to cover 2026. The Trump administration decided in February 2025 to maintain a U.S. funding freeze on UNRWA that had been imposed the previous year.

The cuts are most visible in education. UNRWA schools in Lebanon reduced the school week from five days to four for the 2026-27 academic year. More than 35,000 pupils attend 58 UNRWA schools in the country, and 15 additional classrooms have been added in Beddawi camp in Tripoli.

Health care has also been affected. UNRWA's June 2026 emergency report found that only 15 of 26 primary healthcare centres and clinics in Lebanon were operational, while 11 had shut down.