Middle East monitors have accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency of teaching Palestinian children "a curriculum of war".

The criticism of Unwra, which provides humanitarian services to Palestinian refugees and their descendants, came during a during a panel discussion on the UN agency's role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the House of Commons this week.

Bassem Eid, director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, said that Unwra schools in the Palestinian territories use textbooks that are "based on principles of jihad, martyrdom and right of return by force of arms".

Dr Arnon Groiss, previously a director at the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance, said that some of the books "focus on three education fundamentals regarding the conflict: the delegitimisation of Israel, the demonisation of Israel and the armed struggle against Israel.

"They teach that Jews have no religious sites in Israel, they don't show any figures of Jews in Palestine, they do not like to use the word 'Israel'… Israel is not identified on maps."

The discussion was organised by liberal think-tank the Henry Jackson Society and MP Louise Ellman, who chairs the Jewish Labour Movement and is the Labour Friends of Israel's vice chair.

Unwra received £700 million in funding last year, with the US providing most of the cash. Britain was the third-largest donor, giving £52 million.