Schools Shorten Weeks as UNRWA Funding Cuts Deepen Hardship for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

Cuts strain essential services

UNRWA has closed some schools, healthcare centres and clinics, or reduced their hours, amid funding cuts and shortfalls. For the 2026-27 academic year, many schools have cut the school week from five days to four.

More than 35,000 pupils attend 58 schools, with 15 additional classrooms in Beddawi camp in Tripoli. UNRWA’s June 2026 emergency report said just 15 of 26 primary healthcare centres and clinics remained open; 11 had shut down. A monthly report from the Jafra Foundation said the shortfall threatens education, healthcare, water and sanitation across UNRWA’s five areas of operation: Gaza, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Families face added costs

In Bourj el-Barajneh camp in Beirut, Doumoua al-Baitan said overcrowded classes make it difficult for her children to retain what they learn. The divorced mother of four pays $200 a month for after-school lessons for two children, equal to her monthly rent.

UNRWA has supported Palestinian refugees across the Middle East since 1950. Lebanon has 12 Palestinian refugee camps, where a large proportion of the country’s approximately 230,000 Palestinians live.

Most Palestinians in Lebanon are de facto stateless and lack Lebanese citizenship. They are effectively barred from professions including medicine, law, engineering and pharmacy, adding to the community’s vulnerability.

Work and residency pressures

An estimated 19,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria live in Lebanon, many having fled during Syria’s 13-year war. A Lebanese policy change in May 2024 halted residency renewals for many of them.

The change has increased exposure to detention and made it harder for people to find legal work or register for education and civil issues. Fadi Abu Halawa, a security officer at the Jafra Foundation in Beirut, described the economic situation as very tired and said there was no work.

War and protests in camps

Camp residents have organised sit-ins in response to funding cuts, scarce work and inadequate services. Shatila, one of Beirut’s largest camps, planned a sit-in for Friday. Five of Lebanon’s camps are in the south and have faced displacement and attacks during Israel’s war on Lebanon. In February, Israel killed 12 people in attacks across the country, including two in Ein el-Hilweh camp in Sidon. Three months earlier, at least 13 people, including 11 children playing football, were killed in an attack in the dense camp.