Getty ImagesIsrael’s parliament passed a resolution on Monday night banning the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (Unrwa) from operating in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.
Contact between Unrwa employees and Israeli officials will be prohibited, impairing its ability to operate in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Almost all of Gaza’s population of over 2 million people depend on aid and services from government agencies.
The move has been met with widespread condemnation, with Mr Anruwa warning that the new law could cause aid supply chains to “collapse” in the coming weeks.
Israel defended the move, repeating its claim that many of the agency’s employees were involved in the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that killed 1,200 people.
But Israeli opposition to Unruwa also goes back decades.
What is Unrwa and what does it do?
Founded in 1949, the Palestine Refugee Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, initially serving the 700,000 Palestinians who were uprooted or displaced after statehood. I was taking care of her. of Israel.
Over the decades, Unrwa has grown to become the largest UN agency operating in Gaza. It employs around 13,000 people and is key to humanitarian efforts.
It is primarily funded by voluntary contributions by UN member states, with the UN itself providing some direct funding.
It distributes aid and operates key infrastructure, including evacuation centers, medical facilities, teacher training centers, and around 300 primary schools.
Since the war in Gaza began, government agencies have announced they have distributed food parcels to around 1.9 million people. It also provided approximately 6 million medical consultations throughout the enclave during the conflict.
Since October 2023, more than 200 Unrwa personnel have been killed in Israeli attacks while on duty, according to the agency.
Why is there tension between Israel and Unruwa?
Unwra has been criticized by Israel for years, with many opposing its very existence.
The fate of refugees is a core issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict, with Palestinians harboring dreams of returning to their historic homeland of Palestine (now partly in Israel).
Israel rejects their claims and criticizes the establishment of Anruwa, which allows refugee status to be passed on to the next generation.
This, the report said, solidifies Palestinians as refugees and fosters hopes for a right of return.
The Israeli government has also long accused the institution of teaching and textbooks that perpetuate anti-Israel views.
In 2022, an Israeli watchdog agency said Unruwa’s teaching materials taught students that Israel was trying to “erase Palestinian identity.”
The European Commission has identified what it calls “anti-Semitic content” in textbooks that “includes incitement to violence” and the European Parliament has reiterated its call for EU funding to the Palestinian Authority to be conditioned on the removal of such content. It’s here.
Unrwa previously said that reports about the company’s educational materials were “inaccurate and misleading” and that many of the books in question were not used in schools.
Why did Congress ban Unrwa now?
After the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, allegations that some Unruwa staff were involved led to further calls in Israel for the agency to be banned.
The military claimed that a total of more than 450 Anruwa personnel were members of a “terrorist organization.” In response to the allegations, about 16 Western countries suspended funding to aid agencies.
The United Nations investigated Israel’s claims and fired nine people, but said Israel had not provided further evidence of the allegations and Unrwa denied extensive involvement with Hamas.
On Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the allegations, writing in X: “The Anruwa workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable.”
Under the new law, approved by 92 parliamentarians and opposed by only 10, contact between Unrwa staff and Israeli officials will be prohibited.
What are the potential implications of the ban?
Most of Anruwa’s projects are in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, but their operations depend on agreements with Israel. This includes the movement of aid through checkpoints between Israel and Gaza.
In cooperation with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Unruwa distributes nearly all aid in Gaza through 11 centers across the enclave. It also serves 19 refugee camps in the West Bank.
William Dear, director of Unrwa, told the BBC that on a practical level, the ban on interacting with Israeli officials meant it would be almost impossible for the agency’s staff to operate in the country. spoke.
“We will no longer be able to move to Gaza without the possibility of being attacked, and international staff will no longer be able to obtain visas,” he said.
The head of the United Nations World Food Program said that without Umruwa’s presence in Gaza, aid agencies would be unable to distribute essential food and medicine.
“They’re doing all the work locally,” Cindy McCain told the BBC. “We don’t have any contacts. We don’t have the ability to know who to contact because the situation is so difficult on the ground.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that despite the ban on Unruwa, “continuous humanitarian assistance must continue to be available in Gaza” and that Israel would work with international partners to ensure this.
But on Monday, the US State Department said Israel needed to do “much more” to enable the flow of international aid to Gaza. The warning came two weeks after Israel was given 30 days to increase supplies. Otherwise, there is a risk that some military aid will be cut.
