Attachments
Executive Summary
In 2026, Palestine refugees across Syria, Lebanon and Jordan will continue to endure the compounded impacts of conflict, displacement and precarious legal status. Ongoing regional instability and entrenched socioeconomic crises are expected to intensify humanitarian needs. These interconnected challenges underscore the need for a cohesive regional humanitarian and protection response, particularly as fragile stabilisation and early recovery efforts begin to take hold.
In Syria, where 92 per cent of Palestine refugees (over 384,000 individuals) face food insecurity,1 approximately 30 per cent (over 125,000 individuals) remain in protracted internal displacement. The extensive destruction of Palestine refugee camps, most notably Ein el Tal, Yarmouk and Dera’a, which were formerly home to one-third of all Palestine refugees in the country, continues to pose significant obstacles to sustainable return. Despite this, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government, 2025 saw a sharp increase in return movements to and within Syria, frequently driven by economic pressures in displacement and precarious legal status abroad, alongside pull factors such as family reunification. In Lebanon, continued socioeconomic hardship, rising violence in camps and restrictions on legal status, continue to entrench multi-generational exclusion, with more than 80 per cent of Palestine refugees living below the poverty line.2 In Jordan, Palestine refugees without citizenship, including many ex-Gazans3 and Palestine refugees from Syria (PRS), remain marginalised and heavily dependent on humanitarian assistance due to limited access to employment, documentation and essential services.
In 2026, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA or ‘the Agency’) will focus its humanitarian response in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan on preserving the dignity and resilience of Palestine refugees amid ongoing economic, social and security crises. In this regard, the Agency will prioritise life-saving assistance, protection and support for voluntary, dignified and sustainable returns to Syria through a multisectoral approach, targeting interventions to the most vulnerable Palestine refugees across all three countries. These include individuals without legal status, persons with disabilities, older persons, female‑headed households, at risk youth and returnees who face heightened risks and significant barriers to accessing their rights and essential services. Concurrently, UNRWA will remain prepared to respond swiftly and at scale to conflict and other crises, including displacement from renewed regional or local conflicts that may emerge.
Under the 2026 Syria, Lebanon and Jordan Humanitarian Appeal (HA), UNRWA will provide cash assistance to approximately 124,000 vulnerable Palestine refugees to meet their most basic needs in a flexible and dignified manner, encompassing individuals affected by crisis-related shocks, as well as those undertaking voluntary return to or within Syria. To strengthen accountability and improve efficiency, the Agency will continue to implement advanced assurance measures, including digital identity verification, as a cornerstone for delivering targeted and transparent assistance to Palestine refugees.
UNRWA will prioritise protection interventions, crucial for upholding rights and access to essential services for Palestine refugees across the three fields of Agency operation. Legal aid and referral services will be provided in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan to assist 16,520 Palestine refugees, particularly those lacking official documentation. UNRWA will also provide explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) to 51,530 individuals in high-risk areas in Syria, to enhance their safety. Across all three fields, case management will support gender-based violence (GBV) survivors, at-risk children and youth, persons struggling with negative coping mechanisms, as well as individuals facing heightened psychosocial distress, among other vulnerable cases.
UNRWA will provide primary health care services supported by the Appeal to meet the evolving needs of Palestine refugees, including hospitalisation coverage in response to the increasing unaffordability of secondary and tertiary care. Across the fields, up to 123,000 Palestine refugees will receive mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS). In this regard, around 90,000 children enrolled in UNRWA schools will be supported, addressing the profound psychosocial impact of protracted conflict, displacement and socioeconomic hardship. The Agency will also prioritise the provision of education in emergencies interventions to ensure learning continuity for the most vulnerable students, including returnees to and within Syria, PRS and ex-Gazans.
UNRWA will provide shelter or winterisation support to over 17,000 conflict-affected households, helping to ensure access to safe living conditions and protection from the elements. This support will include shelter repairs in Syria for vulnerable returnees, the replacement of unfit shelters in Jordan’s Garden Camp and winterisation cash-based assistance in Lebanon for the most vulnerable.4 As a key preparedness measure, UNRWA will likewise ensure the readiness of seven designated emergency shelters (DESs) in Lebanon, capable of accommodating up to 3,000 displaced persons, through maintaining critical infrastructure, pre-positioned essential supplies, contingency fuel and linked rapid mobile health response capacity for immediate activation during crises.
In parallel, the Agency will rehabilitate or reconstruct UNRWA installations damaged by conflict, including schools and health centres in Syria, to support the safety and continuity of essential services. Over 180 facilities across all three fields will undergo maintenance and/or repairs, including upgrades to improve accessibility and the installation of sustainable energy systems at critical sites - strengthening UNRWA’s environmental sustainability and operational resilience during emergencies.
The Agency will take a community-centred approach, integrating mental health, psychosocial services and skills development. It will strengthen social cohesion and build a safer, more resilient environment. UNRWA’s interventions will remain guided by the Humanitarian-Development-Peace nexus approach, linking relief with resilience-building and conflict prevention, and the imperative to ensure dignity, protection and inclusion for all Palestine refugees across the region.