Unrwa "has no place in the new Gaza," the US-backed Board of Peace said on Wednesday.
"We are turning the page on the complex of perpetual aid dependency & conflict," the international organisation stated, adding: "The people of Gaza deserve better."
Hamas condemned the Board on Thursday, calling on the international community "to shoulder their responsibilities, and to ensure the continuation of Unrwa’s operations and the protection of its UN mandate”.
"We reaffirm that UNRWA’s continued humanitarian and relief work is an urgent necessity," Hamas stated, according to Quds News Network, an outlet affiliated with the terrorist group.
The Board of Peace's comments came as UN delegates gathered in New York for the annual Unrwa Pledging Conference, where countries announced funding for the embattled UN agency serving Palestinians.
Unrwa has faced sustained funding shortfalls after the United States and several European countries suspended or reduced contributions, while some Arab donors have also scaled back support. The agency has repeatedly appealed for additional funding to sustain operations in Gaza and across the region.
Israel and some of its allies have accused Unrwa of enabling terrorist activity through its schools and facilities and of perpetuating the Arab-Israeli conflict through its policies on refugee status and a "right of return" for Palestinians and their descendants.
Israel has also accused members of the agency’s staff of complicity in the October 7 attacks. Unrwa has denied institutional involvement in the atrocities and insisted that any staff shown to have participated have been sacked.
Ambassador Jeff Bartos, the US representative for UN management and reform, told the pledging conference on Wednesday that "doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result, is the definition of insanity".
"And yet, here we are again. Another annual pledging conference for Unrwa,” he went on.
"Same speeches, in fact, if we dusted off and looked at a year ago, I bet you your speeches haven't changed except for the date. Same condemnation of Israel, same failures to condemn Hamas.”
Bartos told fellow ambassadors that "year after year, you choose to fund Unrwa in Gaza, hoping for, and perhaps even expecting, a different result".
"This year, you finally have a choice before you. You can choose to fund incitement, terrorism, and stagnation. Or you can choose to fund the Board of Peace, giving Gazans a path to peace, prosperity and real, durable change. The choice is yours," the envoy stated. "History will not forget."
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said on Wednesday that the Jewish state had warned "for years" that Hamas terrorists had infiltrated UNRWA.
"No terrorist deserves a UN badge, a UN paycheck, or the protection of the UN," he tweeted. "Now, after Unrwa dismissed 70 employees linked to terrorist organisations in Gaza, the international community should finally heed Israel’s warnings."
A Trump administration official told JNS last month that Unrwa’s decision to dismiss 70 staff members was linked to an investigation into ties between agency personnel and terrorist organisations, including involvement in the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on southern Israel on October 7.
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