Iran Press/ West Asia: According to Adalah, a human rights organization in Israel, this ban would come into force within three months of the bill’s passage.
This law bans UNRWA from operating in areas under Israeli control, which would lead to the closure of its premises in the occupied Palestinian territory – West Bank, including occupied East Al-Quds, and Gaza.
The proposed legislation would also immediately terminate the 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA, in which Israel committed to facilitating UNRWA’s work. This would effectively paralyze the agency’s ability to fulfill its mandate set out by the UN General Assembly in 1949.
This ban could see UNRWA evicted from headquarters and offices as well as severely block its ability to provide essential services such as healthcare and education to millions of Palestine refugees.
It will also end visas for UNRWA staff.
What is the agency
UNRWA is the main humanitarian agency in Gaza, but its operations are also spread across the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.
UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly on December 8, 1949, to provide basic support including food, healthcare, and education to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees.
This was after more than 700,000 Palestinians were forcefully displaced leading up to Israel’s creation in 1948, which Palestinians remember as the Nakba, or “the catastrophe”.
UNRWA supports some six million Palestinian refugees who live within and outside Palestine. It is like a quasi-state providing direct services, such as schools, primary health centers, and other social services. It also provides loans to Palestinians.
The ban will mean the collapse of the humanitarian process
UNRWA’s media adviser, Adnan Abu Hasna, said Israel’s decision to ban the organization will mean the collapse of the humanitarian process as a whole.
Hasna described the decision as an “unprecedented” escalation while speaking to Al Jazeera.
EU: Banning contradicts international law
Josep Borrell said the ban “would de facto render UNRWA’s vital operations in Gaza impossible and seriously hamper its provision of services in the West Bank”.
In a post on X, Borrell said: “This legislation stands in stark contradiction to international law and the fundamental principle of humanity. All UN agencies embody the rules-based international order as they uphold and implement the UN Charter, to which all UN Member States must abide.”
Barbara Woodward, the United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, expressed concern over the Zionist regime's decision to ban UNRWA activities.
UN Palestinian agency condemns ban as ‘outrageous’
The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has condemned the Knesset’s approval of a bill banning its work in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, calling the move “outrageous”.
“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,” Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for UNRWA, told AFP news agency.
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