Israel parliament shuts down Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA

Israel’s parliament on Monday banned the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, despite objections from the international community.

Lawmakers passed the bill with 92 votes in favor and 10 against, after years of harsh Israeli criticism of UNRWA, which has only increased since the start of the war in Gaza following Hamas’s deadly October 7 attacks last year.

The ban on the UN agency — which has provided essential aid and assistance across Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades — would be a blow to humanitarian work in Gaza if implemented, according to experts.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini condemned the decision, saying it set “a dangerous precedent”.

“This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA… These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians,” he wrote on X.

Ahead of the vote, the United States said it was “deeply concerned” about the bill, reiterating the “critical” role the agency plays in distributing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

Washington warned Israel on October 15 that it had 30 days to increase the amount of aid reaching the Gaza Strip or it would consider withholding some military assistance to its key ally.

Earlier on Monday, Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy expressed “profound regret” that Israel was “considering shutting down UNRWA’s operations”.

In January, Israel accused a dozen of UNRWA’s Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, which sparked the deadliest war in the territory.

A series of probes found some “neutrality related issues” at UNRWA, and determined that nine employees “may have been involved” in the October 7 attack, but found no evidence for Israel’s chief allegations.

“There is a deep connection between the terrorist organisation (Hamas) and UNRWA, and Israel cannot put up with it,” Yuli Edelstein, a lawmaker from Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party and one of the sponsors of the bill, said in parliament as he presented the proposal.

“There is no place for enemies in the heart of the capital of the Jewish people.”

Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem, including the annexed east, as its indivisible capital.

‘Grave concern’ over ban

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable” but added that “sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza”.

“We stand ready to work with our international partners to ensure Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security,” he said on X.

Hamas reacted with fury to the ban.

“We consider this part of the Zionist war and aggression against our people,” Hamas said in a statement.

The ban, which enters into force in 90 days, would effectively prevent UNRWA from operating in Israel and also target its operations in east Jerusalem, where it currently provides some essential services such as cleaning, education and healthcare in certain neighbourhoods.

What is also feared is that UNRWA employees in the West Bank could potentially face problems in terms of moving from one place to another as well as accessing east Jerusalem or Israel, because they would lose their ability to coordinate with the Israeli authorities to cross checkpoints.

The same applies to visa and permits that are delivered by Israeli authorities.

UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies have accused Israeli authorities of restricting aid flows into Gaza, where almost all of the territory’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war.

The agency itself has suffered heavy losses, with at least 223 of its staff killed and two-thirds of the agency’s facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed since the war began.

The war in Gaza erupted with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 43,020 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures that the UN considers reliable.

Over the weekend, a statement by foreign ministers from several Western countries slammed the proposed legislation targeting the UN agency.

“We, the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, express our grave concern” over the legislation, read the statement.

UNRWA was created in 1949 to support Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.