Israel votes to ban UN aid agency UNRWA

Israel's parliament has passed a law to ban the UN relief agency UNRWA from operating inside the country, alarming some of Israel's Western allies who fear it will worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The bill bans the UN agency from conducting "any activity" or providing any service inside Israel.

Israeli officials cited the involvement of a handful of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees' thousands of staffers in the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and a few staffers' membership in Hamas and other armed groups.

"UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the implementation of a law banning UNRWA from operating in Israel "could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is unacceptable."

"There is no alternative to UNRWA," he said in a statement. "The implementation of these laws would be detrimental for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for peace and security in the region as a whole. As I said before, UNRWA is indispensable."

Guterres said he would bring the matter to the attention of the 193-member UN General Assembly.

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said the vote violates international law.

"This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimise its role towards providing human-development assistance and services to #Palestine Refugees," he wrote on social media platform X.

World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said UNRWA has been an "irreplaceable lifeline" for the Palestinian people for the past seven decades.

"UNRWA was created by the UN member states. Today's decision by the Israeli parliament barring UNRWA from its life-saving and health-protecting work on behalf of millions of Palestinians will have devastating consequences," he said in a post on X.

"This is intolerable. It contravenes Israel's obligations and responsibilities, and threatens the lives and health of all those who depend on UNRWA."

The vote passed 92-10 and followed a fiery debate between supporters of the law and its opponents, mostly members of Arab parliamentary parties.

An UNRWA spokesperson said prior to the vote that the proposed law would be a "disaster" and would have a serious impact on the humanitarian operation in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank.

"We know that previous attempts that aimed at replacing UNRWA and providing humanitarian assistance have failed miserably," said Juliette Touma, the main spokesperson for the organisation.

"It's outrageous that a member state of the United Nations is working to dismantle a UN agency which also happens to be the largest responder in the humanitarian operation in Gaza."

Taken together, these bills signal a new low in relations between Israel and UNRWA, which Israel accuses of maintaining close ties with Hamas militants.

The bills risk crippling the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

More than 1.9 million Palestinians are displaced from their homes and Gaza faces widespread shortages of food, water and medicine.

Foreign ministers from France, Germany, Britain, Japan and South Korea, Canada and Australia issued a statement expressing "grave concern."

"It is crucial that UNRWA and other UN organisations and agencies be fully able to deliver humanitarian aid and their assistance to those who need it most, fulfilling their mandates effectively," the statement said.

The bills would go into effect 60 to 90 days after Israel's Foreign Ministry notifies the UN, according to the spokesperson of lawmaker Dan Illouz, one of the co-sponsors of one of the bills.

with AP and DPA