"Their destruction would have been catastrophic … If there is ever a just and durable solution to this conflict, then this is the only evidence people can use to show there were once Palestinians living in a particular place."
— Roger Hearn, senior Unrwa official
Unrwa Completes 10-Month Rescue of Palestinian Archives from Gaza and East Jerusalem to Jordan
In a covert, multi-country operation spanning ten months, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) successfully evacuated its historic archives from Gaza and East Jerusalem to safe storage in Jordan. Dozens of staff members risked their lives under bombardment, transporting documents via military planes and secret land routes to safeguard records that chronicle the Palestinian experience since 1948.
Key Details of the Evacuation
- Scope & Risk: The operation involved dozens of staff across at least four countries, relying on risky trips under active bombardment. Final transport was conducted via military planes.
- Gaza Evacuation Route:
- Documents were moved from their original storage to a warehouse in Rafah, southern Gaza.
- From Rafah, they were transferred to Egypt.
- A Jordanian charity flew them to Jordan on military planes returning from aid delivery missions.
- The final cargo left Rafah just two weeks before Israeli tanks entered the city in May 2024.
- East Jerusalem Evacuation: Documents from East Jerusalem were secretly transferred over several months to Jordan, as Israeli measures against Unrwa intensified.
- Digitization Effort: Over 50 Unrwa staff in Amman are now digitizing the archives, funded by Luxembourg. Nearly 30 million documents have been digitized so far, with completion estimated in two years.
Historical Significance of the Archives
The evacuated archives are irreplaceable. They contain:
- Original refugee registration cards from 1948.
- Birth, marriage, and death certificates dating back to the 1948 war.
- Documents that provide critical evidence of Palestinian displacement during the 1948 war and subsequent conflicts.
Why It Matters
Experts emphasize the archive's unique role for a stateless population:
- Jean-Pierre Filiu (Professor, Sciences Po) stated the documents are "crucial to the Palestinian experience," containing testimonies of forced flight in 1948.
- Sam Rose (Acting Director of Unrwa affairs in Gaza) noted the constant risk of Israeli destruction, as well as fire or explosion in the conflict zone.
- Dr. Anne Irfan (Historian, UCL) explained: "The Palestinians are a stateless people and without a fully unified national archive … so the Unrwa archive has a particular significance for them."
Broader Context: Unrwa Under Threat
Founded in 1949 to provide services to Palestinian refugees, Unrwa has long been a target of Israeli hostility. Israel accuses the agency of perpetuating refugee status and of staff involvement in the 2023 Hamas attack. In a significant escalation, new Israeli laws enacted in January 2025 bar Unrwa from operating in Israel and the occupied territories.