Israel's parliament on Monday passed two laws that could threaten the work of UNRWA, the United Nations’ main agency supporting the Palestinians, by banning its operations in the country. At the time, Israel did not respond to calls from the Biden administration, which warned that the bill could cause an even bigger humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Most of the law’s provisions take three months to enter into force, and their full legal impact was not immediately clear. Relief agencies have played a critical role in coordinating desperately needed humanitarian assistance.
Israel has criticized UNRWA for decades, arguing that its work supporting Palestinian refugees and their descendants further perpetuates its long-standing territorial dispute with Israel. The Israeli government has accused several of its 13,000-member Gaza agency employees of participating in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 last year that triggered the war.
The bill passed Monday night had the potential to push the agency into unstable and uncharted territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under pressure from Israel’s allies, including the United States, not to oppose the agency, and it is unclear how or if the law will ultimately be implemented. .
But he has consistently criticized the agency, and hours after the bill passed, his office released the following statement: “UNRWA personnel involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable. Gaza must continue to have access to continued humanitarian assistance now and in the future, as it is also essential to avoid a humanitarian crisis. yeah.”
The statement continued: “During the 90 days before this law enters into force, and even after it takes effect, we are working with our international partners to ensure that Israel can continue to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians in the Gaza Strip in a manner that does not jeopardize Israel’s security.” We are ready to cooperate.”
Several governments, including Germany and Spain, immediately criticized the bill’s passage. For example, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement he was “gravely concerned” and said the vote threatened “the entire international humanitarian response” in Gaza.
UNRWA Executive Director Philippe Lazzarini said on social media that the parliament’s move “sets a dangerous precedent.”
“These bills will only exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, where people have been experiencing hellish conditions for more than a year,” Lazzarini added.
He also said the move violated Israel’s obligations under international law, a charge rejected by Israeli lawmakers.
Under the new law, UNRWA cannot “operate any representative office, provide any services, or carry out any activities, directly or indirectly, within the sovereign territory of Israel.” Become. It also prohibits Israeli government agencies from contacting UNRWA or any agency acting on its behalf.
Both bills passed overwhelmingly, each receiving more than 80 votes in Israel’s 120-member parliament. Lawmakers from at least two centrist parties joined Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition in voting in favor of the bill, reflecting mainstream support.
Ron Katz, one of the bill’s sponsors and a member of the centrist Yesh Atid party, bluntly equated Hamas with the United Nations agency. “What we want to say is simple: Israel is disengaging from the terrorist organization Hamas, which calls itself UNRWA,” he said.
For decades, UNRWA has operated schools and clinics in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, as well as in neighboring Arab countries, serving Palestinians displaced by the decades-old war over the creation of the state of Israel. has provided services to. The law could force UNRWA to close its offices in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967 and later annexed, a move not recognized by much of the international community.
It is not yet clear what effect this law will have, but UNRWA will have a hard time attracting foreign staff if Israeli government agencies are prohibited from issuing employment visas to foreign staff. Dew. And it is unclear how the agency will coordinate, even indirectly, the movement of aid workers in the Gaza Strip with the Israeli military.
In recent days, the United States and seven other countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany, have called on Israel not to ban UNRWA, saying its work is critical to civilians, especially in the Gaza Strip. More than 230 of the agency’s employees have been killed since the war began in Gaza more than a year ago.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III warned Israel in a letter that “passage of this bill could affect U.S. law.” He said he did. The letter threatened to cut off weapons supplies unless Israel took steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“We are deeply concerned about this bill,” Miller told reporters Monday, shortly before the bill was passed. “They are currently playing a truly irreplaceable role in Gaza and are on the front lines delivering humanitarian aid to those in need.”
“We continue to call on the Israeli government to suspend enforcement of this law,” Miller added. “We advise them not to give it to them at all. We will consider next steps based on the situation going forward.”
Israel has stepped up efforts to thwart the agency since January, when the Israeli government claimed that 12 of the 13,000 Gaza agency employees took part in the October 7 attack. He added that there had been other incidents since then, alleging that many of the agency’s employees belonged to extremist groups. Israel provided little evidence to support this claim.
In August, UN investigators cleared 10 UNRWA employees of participating in the October 7 attack, but the UN announced that nine others had been fired for their possible involvement. An independent review commissioned by the United Nations in April found that UNRWA has a “more developed approach to neutrality” than other aid groups and other UN agencies.
Aid groups say Israel’s commitment to UNRWA has weakened humanitarian efforts in the enclave, where war has displaced most of the population, destroyed public health and medical systems, and left food and drinking water in short supply. There is. Experts again warned of hunger in a report this month.
Israeli officials said they were acting in accordance with international law and remained committed to providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, but that UNRWA should no longer operate in the enclave.
