Tension continues to grow in Gaza as Israel’s parliament votes to pass legislation banning the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) from operating within Israel and Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem within three months.
Contact between Unrwa employees and Israeli officials will also be banned, severely limiting the agency’s ability to operate in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Co-operation with the Israeli military – which controls all crossings into Gaza – is essential for Unrwa to transfer aid into the war-torn territory. It is the main UN organisation working on the ground there.
Unrwa staff will no longer have legal immunity within Israel, and the agency’s headquarters in East Jerusalem will be closed.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said implementing the laws “would be detrimental for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for peace and security in the region as a whole”, while Unrwa’s chief Philippe Lazzarini said it “will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians”.
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A number of countries, including the US, the UK and Germany, have expressed serious concern about the move.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy called it “totally wrong”, while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the laws risk making Unrwa’s “essential work for Palestinians impossible, jeopardising the entire international humanitarian response in Gaza”.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “Unrwa workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable”, but added that “sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza”.
“We stand ready to work with our international partners to ensure Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security,” he said on X.
Israel says Unrwa staff have colluded with Hamas in Gaza, and claimed 19 Unrwa workers took part in the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023.
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