The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) approved a law on Monday that bans the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA)which provides social services to millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, operate on Israeli territoryincluded in unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem.
The bill, which had already been approved at first reading this summer before the three-month parliamentary recess, was advanced this Monday to the second and third reading with 92 votes for and 10 against, on the first day of the new session period .
The text specifies that UNRWA will not make any representations, provide any services or carry out any activities. “directly or indirectly” in the sovereign territory of Israel.
Even MPs from several opposition parties, including centrist Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid (There is a Future) and Benny Gantz’s National Unity, voted in favor of this ban, which in turn will significantly reduce UNRWA activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bankgiven the reliance on coordination with Israeli authorities.
Moments before the vote, Hadash-Taal Arab party MP Ahmad Tibi described this: “fascist” legislation during a debate in the Knesset plenary session, provoking shouts and anger from Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who had to be taken back to her seat.
A second bill, expected to be voted on soon, aims to revoke the agency’s tax exemption and immunity status, as well as designate it as a “terrorist organization” due to its alleged ties to Hamas .
UNRWA currently provides services such as education and health in some refugee camps in East Jerusalem, such as Shuafat. Furthermore, without coordination with Israel, It will be very difficult to work in Gaza or the West Bankwhere he is responsible for aid distribution, due to the lack of visas or entry permits into the occupied Palestinian territories.
UNRWA is “the the backbone of humanitarian operations in Gaza”he said to Efe Jonathan Fowdler, one of the agency’s spokespersons, stressed that without the agency’s work, 660,000 children in Gaza would lose the only entity capable of continuing their education.
Unfinished accusations
Israel has UNRWA accused of employing 2,100 Hamas membersand said in January that twelve of them actively participated in the deadly October 7 attacks, to which the agency immediately responded by opening an internal investigation and firing those workers.
The agency, which has more than 30,000 employees, assured a few months later that Israel had not presented conclusive evidence on the involvement of these workers in the attacks, while an independent investigation, led by the Former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna endorsed the neutrality of the agency in March. humanitarian activity of the agency, even if it detected “critical areas”.
As soon as Israel made such accusations in January, 18 countries announced they were withdrawing their fundsincluding its major donors – the United States, Germany, Japan and France – resulting in a $450 million budget cut amid the emergency response in the Gaza Strip.
Most countries, including Canada, Sweden, Australia and the European Union itself, resumed funding of UNRWA a few months later in response to the demand. lack of evidence presented by Israel.
