Israel’s parliament has approved a controversial bill that would ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), considered the Gaza Strip's lifeline, from operating in Israeli territory.
The law prohibits UNRWA from operating in areas under Israeli control, leading to the closure of facilities in the occupied Palestinian territories (the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem) and Gaza. It turns out.
Although the bill does not take effect immediately, it risks disrupting an already fragile aid distribution process at a time when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening and pressure is mounting on Israel to accept aid.
The ban would effectively cripple the organization’s ability to fulfill its mandate established by the 1949 United Nations General Assembly.
UNRWA is the main agency providing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by more than a year of Israeli war. Hundreds of UNRWA staff have been killed in the Israeli attack, making it the deadliest conflict for U.N. staff.
The vote passed 92-10, sparking heated debate between supporters and opponents of the law, mostly Arab members of parliament.
A second bill to sever diplomatic relations with UNRWA was also voted on late Monday.
“Dangerous precedent”
The UNRWA chief said the ban sets a “dangerous precedent” and “will only deepen the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
“This is the latest in an ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA…These bills will only exacerbate the suffering of the Palestinian people,” the agency’s director, Philippe Lazzarini, told X He spoke at
Earlier, a UNRWA spokesperson condemned the move as “outrageous”.
“It is outrageous that United Nations member states are working to dismantle the United Nations agency, which is also the biggest humanitarian supporter in Gaza,” Juliet Touma told AFP news agency.
UNRWA media adviser Adnan Abu Hasna said Israel’s decision to ban the organization meant the collapse of the entire humanitarian process.
Hasna told Al Jazeera the decision was an “unprecedented” escalation.
For more than 70 years, the United Nations agency has provided essential aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as across the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
It has long been the subject of harsh criticism of Israel, but the criticism intensified after Israel launched a series of deadly attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian president’s office condemned the ban, saying such a move would not be tolerated.
“We reject and condemn this bill… We will not tolerate this… The overwhelming vote of the so-called Knesset (Israel’s parliament) signals Israel’s transformation into a fascist state,” said Nabil, spokesman for the presidential palace in Ramallah. – Abu Rudayne said. statement.
“grave concern”
Al Jazeera’s Noor Odeh newspaper reported from Amman, Jordan, that this would “result in approximately 3 million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip being deprived of services provided by UNRWA”. Ta.
“UNRWA provides education, medical services and vocational training to Palestinian refugees. This is a large-scale operation in the Palestinian territories, employing 13,000 people in the Gaza Strip alone,” Odeh said. Ta.
Israel claimed that some of UNRWA’s thousands of personnel took part in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. It also said hundreds of its staff had ties to the group and had discovered Hamas assets near or underground at UNRWA facilities. The agency denies knowingly supporting armed groups and says it will act quickly to remove suspected militants from its ranks.
The bill does not include provisions for an alternative body to oversee its activities, and has been heavily criticized by international aid groups and some of Israel’s Western allies.
The United States said it was “deeply concerned” about the bill. “We have made it clear to the Israeli government that we are deeply concerned about this matter,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, adding that the State Department will continue to distribute humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. He reiterated that the agency plays an “important” role.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the ban would “effectively make UNRWA’s vital operations in Gaza impossible and seriously impede service provision in the West Bank.”
In a post about X, he said the bill was “deeply inconsistent with fundamental principles of international law and humanity.”
Israeli aid restraint
Ahead of the bill’s passage, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Australia issued statements expressing “grave concerns”.
“It is critical that UNRWA and other United Nations agencies are able to effectively carry out their mandates and provide adequate humanitarian aid and support to those who need it most,” the statement said.
UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies have accused Israel of severely restricting the flow of aid to Gaza, where nearly all of the enclave’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once since October last year. . More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health officials.
The Israeli military continues to close key border crossings, including the Rafah border, and prohibits humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and much-needed fuel, from entering the bombed area. More than 20 days of total siege in northern Gaza has left hospitals on the verge of collapse and around 400,000 people without access to basic necessities.
UNRWA itself has suffered heavy losses since last year, with at least 233 members killed and two-thirds of the agency’s facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed since the war began.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has restricted aid to Gaza and pledged to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians after the embargo.
“Continued humanitarian assistance must be available in Gaza now and in the future…We will continue to ensure that Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian assistance to Gaza’s civilian population in a manner that does not jeopardize Israel’s security. , we are ready to cooperate with our international partners,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said. Posting on Social Media Platform X.
