Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli parliament’s decision to ban UNRWA

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday condemned the Israeli parliament’s decision to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.

Israeli lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly voted to ban the agency, UNRWA, from working in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.

The move “constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and a direct violation of the rules of international legitimacy, in light of the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe facing the brotherly Palestinian people,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

“The Kingdom affirms its categorical rejection of the continuous and systematic practices of the Israeli occupation authorities in politically and militarily targeting the United Nations agencies and its relief organizations, which constitute part of its persistence in committing crimes of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people and erasing the Palestinian identity, and stifling efforts to achieve comprehensive and just peace,” the ministry said.

“The Kingdom renewed its support and solidarity with UNRWA in its humanitarian mission to provide relief to Palestinian refugees in all areas, especially since the agency is one of the results of Security Council Resolution 194 of 1948, which is one of the legal and material constants to support the right of return for Palestinian refugees,” it added.

The Israeli lawmakers also passed a measure prohibiting Israeli officials from working with UNRWA and its employees.

UNRWA has provided essential aid, schooling and healthcare across the Palestinian Territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades.

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 its facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed since the war began.

In January, Israel accused a dozen of UNRWA’s Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7 attack by Hamas.

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.