The agency denounced a “scandalous” measure against this agency, the main actor in humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip, besieged and devastated by more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas.
The Israeli Parliament voted this Monday, October 28, by an overwhelming majority in favor of a bill banning the activities of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Israel, despite the objections of the United States and the UN.
The agency denounced a “scandalous” measure against this agency, the main actor in humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip, besieged and devastated by more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas.
For the head of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, this ban “creates a dangerous precedent” and constitutes the latest episode “in an ongoing campaign to discredit” the agency. He said his ban would “aggravate the suffering of the Palestinians”. Hamas, for its part, denounced a “Zionist aggression” against the Palestinians.
The text was approved in the Knesset by 92 votes to 10 while Israel, long very critical of the UN agency, accused certain UNRWA employees of having participated in the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and being fighters of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
If this ban is implemented, “it is a disaster, particularly because of the impact it will likely have on humanitarian operations in Gaza and several parts of the West Bank,” said the spokesperson for the 'Unrwa, Juliette Touma.
“UNRWA is the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza and primarily responsible for the humanitarian response, including shelter, food and basic health care,” the spokesperson added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, affirmed that Israel, which strictly controls the entry of international aid shipments, was “ready” to provide humanitarian aid to the territory.
“We stand ready to work with our international partners to ensure that Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian assistance to Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel's security,” Benjamin Netanyahu said on X. Even before the vote, the United States declared itself “very concerned” by the text.
“We have made it clear to the Israeli government that we are deeply concerned about this proposed law (…) and we urge the Israeli government not to approve it,” declared the State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, reiterating the “crucial” role played by the agency in the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
“Spine”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK was “gravely concerned” that “this legislation risks making UNRWA's essential work for Palestinians impossible.”
Germany “strongly criticized” the Israeli vote, which will make “effectively impossible the work of UNRWA in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem (…) endangering vital humanitarian aid for millions of people.” people”.
The UN Security Council, including the United States, warned Israel on October 10 against passing this law, the day after a similar warning launched by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Explain to us by Nicolas Poincaré: UNRWA (UN), the agency in Gaza at the heart of a controversy – 01/29
The text, voted on at first reading in July, proposed banning “UNRWA activities on Israeli territory”, including in East Jerusalem, a sector of the holy city occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967.
“The State of Israel has the right and the duty, as a sovereign state committed to its survival, to fight against threats including those that exist in its heart,” said MP Yuli Edelstein after the vote, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“UNRWA is not an aid agency for refugees, it is an aid agency for Hamas,” added MP Boaz Bismuth, one of the co-authors of the text.
Convictions from Ireland, Norway and Slovenia
Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain “condemned” in a joint statement on Monday the vote in the Israeli Parliament on a law banning the activities of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
“The work of the agency is essential and irreplaceable for millions of Palestinians and particularly in the current context in Gaza,” write the governments of these four European countries which have recognized the State of Palestine.
The legislation passed on Monday by the Israeli Parliament “creates a very serious precedent for the work of the United Nations”, they denounce.
This agency, created by the UN General Assembly in 1949, notably manages health centers and schools in Gaza and the West Bank, and is considered “the backbone” of international aid to Gaza, in the grip of to a humanitarian disaster.
Some of the biggest donors suspended their contributions at the start of the year after Israel accused around twenty of the agency's 13,000 employees in Gaza of having participated in the attack on October 7, 2023. Most donors have since resumed their support, with the notable exception of the main one, the United States.
