Refugees and internally displaced persons are entitled to international assistance. National authorities hold the primary responsibility for the provision of assistance within their borders. International assistance is required when states are either unable or unwilling to provide assistance. International assistance activities are closely related to protection and include provision of food, shelter, health and education services.

Private voluntary organizations, governments, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in cooperation with the League of Red Crescent Societies (LRCS) were the first to provide emergency relief assistance to Palestinian refugees in 1948. The United Nations established several disaster relief programs in 1948 to coordinate and fund humanitarian operations in Palestine. This included the UN Relief for Palestine Refugees (UNRPR). The UNRPR was established by the General Assembly – Resolution 212(III) – in November 1948. The General Assembly also established a special international fund to pay for the emergency relief programs.

UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)

The United Nations decided to establish a new agency to provide international assistance to Palestinian refugees following the decision by private voluntary organizations to terminate relief operations in Palestine. In December 1949, the General Assembly established – Resolution 302(IV) – the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In 1967 the General Assembly requested UNRWA to provide international assistance – Resolution 2252(ES-V) – to Palestinian refugees displaced for the first time in 1967. There is no international agency with a specific mandate to provide assistance to internally displaced Palestinians in 1967 occupied Palestine.