The Israeli Parliament has decided to ban the activities in Israel of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), causing an international outcry, against a backdrop of negotiations on the release of hostages held in Gaza.
Several European capitals have denounced this ban, as have the UN and the WHO (World Health Organization), while UNRWA is the main actor in humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip, besieged and devastated by more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel, which has long been very critical of the agency, has accused UNRWA employees of having participated in the massacre perpetrated on its soil by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7, 2023, which triggered particularly Israeli reprisals. murderous.
Despite the opposition of its American ally and the warning of the UN Security Council, the Knesset adopted by an overwhelming majority (92 votes to 10) this text which prohibits “the activities of UNRWA on the territory Israeli”, including in East Jerusalem, a sector of the holy city occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967.
A second text, also widely adopted (89 votes to 7), also prohibits Israeli officials from working with UNRWA and its employees, which should considerably disrupt the agency's activities, while Israel strictly controls all humanitarian aid shipments entering Gaza.
Both laws will take effect 90 days after their adoption, according to the Knesset.
– “Spine” –
“There is a deep link between the terrorist organization (Hamas) and Unrwa and Israel cannot tolerate it,” insisted Yuli Edelstein, one of the deputies behind the text.
Unrwa, created by the UN General Assembly in 1949, notably manages health centers and schools in Gaza and the West Bank. Providing shelter, food and basic care, it is considered the “backbone” of aid to Gaza, which is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The head of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, denounced a ban which will “aggravate the suffering of the Palestinians”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” by these two laws “which, if implemented, would likely prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work”, with “devastating consequences”. “There is no alternative to UNRWA,” he insisted, calling on Israel “to act in accordance with its obligations under the United Nations Charter.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “ready” to “work with (its) international partners” to continue “facilitating humanitarian aid to Gaza in a way that does not threaten (its) security “.
Even before the vote, the United States declared itself “very concerned” and “urged the government not to approve” this text.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, denounced an “intolerable” decision. Same concerns and condemnations from London and Berlin, but also from Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain, who consider the work of Unrwa “irreplaceable”.
On the Palestinian side, Hamas denounced a “Zionist aggression”, while the Palestinian presidency saw in these texts the confirmation of “the transformation of Israel into a fascist state”.
– “Stop this war” –
In this tense context marked by the continuation of its war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel announced Monday that it had discussed with foreign negotiators meeting in Qatar a new framework for talks on the release of hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
The head of Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency, David Barnea, met with CIA chief Bill Burns and the Qatari prime minister to discuss this “new framework,” according to Mr. Netanyahu's office, which said the discussions “will continue in the coming days between the mediators and Hamas.”
The day before, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, of whom the country is one of the mediators, had proposed a two-day ceasefire during which four Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
This truce would be followed “within ten days” by negotiations with a view to a “complete ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid”.
Mr. Netanyahu “did not receive” this proposal: “if this proposal had been made, the Prime Minister would have immediately accepted it,” his spokesperson said Monday evening.
“We must stop this war,” US President Joe Biden insisted on Monday.
While Israel on Saturday struck military targets in Iran, which supports and finances Hamas and Hezbollah, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said these raids had “changed the balance of power”, with a “enemy (…) weakened”.
Iran on Monday threatened Israel with “unimaginable” consequences after these strikes carried out in response to Iranian missile launches on October 1 on Israel.
According to Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran is seeking to build “stockpiles of nuclear bombs with the aim of destroying Israel.”
– Strikes on Lebanon –
In Lebanon, Israel carried out new air raids, after having intensified its campaign of strikes since September 23 then launching a ground offensive in the south of the country against Hezbollah.
Raids on the Mediterranean city of Tire left at least seven dead and 17 injured, according to the Lebanese authorities, who also reported 60 deaths in strikes on several localities in the east of the country.
Israel says it wants to neutralize Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in order to allow the return to northern Israel of 60,000 residents displaced by incessant rocket fire since the start of the war in Gaza more than a year ago.
More than 1,600 people have been killed since September 23 in Lebanon, according to an AFP count based on official data.
According to the Israeli army, around 115 “projectiles” were fired by Hezbollah towards Israel on Monday.
– “Food” –
In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army announced that it had killed “dozens of terrorists” in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jabalia, a sector in the north of the territory where it has been leading an offensive since October 6, claiming that fighters from Hamas is trying to regroup there.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed at least 43,020 Palestinians, the majority civilians, according to data from the Hamas government's Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN, and has caused the displacement of almost all 2.4 million inhabitants of the territory.
Walid Abou Shawish, a 40-year-old man who fled the north to take refuge in Khan Younès (south), told AFP that he “sold everything to buy a tent” for his family of nine, and “spent everything to have food and drinking water.
The attack of October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or died in captivity.
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