Hundreds in Gaza rally against funding cut of UN agency for Palestinian refugees

Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Monday rallied in protest of the funding cut of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Protesters raised Palestinian flags and banners highlighting the refugees' right to education and employment, expressing dissatisfaction over the decision by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to reduce its services because of its financial crisis.

UNRWA officials warned earlier that the humanitarian agency will be forced to cut services after the U.S. slashed around half of its contribution to the agency's annual budget.

In July, UNRWA announced that the contracts of 100 of its 1,000 emergency employees working in Gaza were terminated, while the other 900 will be transferred to the part-time system until the end of this year.

During the protest on Monday, demonstrators called for international intervention to resolve the financial crisis of UNRWA.

"The fate of school year in UNRWA schools is still unknown, which threatens the right to education for about half a million Palestinian refugee students," said Khalid Al-Muzain, head of UNRWA teachers' union.

UNRWA provides services to about 5 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development.

Its services include education, health care, relief, social services, infrastructure, camp improvement and microcredit.