The United Nations has announced that its aid agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, will maintain its operations across all Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, even as Israel disconnects from the organization.
Following Israel’s accusations that UNRWA was enabling Hamas militants, legislation to sever ties with the agency took effect today. This development is anticipated to impede the essential services provided by UNRWA after 15 months of conflict in Gaza.
The agency is prohibited from functioning on Israeli soil, and all communication between it and Israeli officials is restricted.
Nonetheless, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated: “UNRWA clinics throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are operational.”
For over 70 years, the agency has assisted Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, but it has frequently faced opposition from Israeli officials, who have accused it of compromising the nation’s security.
The tensions escalated after the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, with allegations that UNRWA employees were involved in the assault.
Following the implementation of the law, the Norwegian government reported a contribution of $24 million (€29m) to the agency.
“Gaza is in ruins, and UNRWA’s assistance is more crucial than ever,” remarked Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
‘Blatant violation’ of law by Israel – Turkey
Turkey denounced the Israeli action as “a blatant violation of international law” and stated it “marks a new phase in Israel’s policies of occupation and annexation aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians from their own land.”
In defense, Israel upheld its decision.
“Humanitarian aid does not equate to UNRWA, and UNRWA is not synonymous with humanitarian aid. UNRWA is an organization infiltrated with Hamas terror activities,” foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote on X prior to the ban.
The agency’s offices and personnel in Israel play a significant role in delivering healthcare and education to Palestinians, including those in Gaza, which has suffered tremendously because of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Yesterday, Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer claimed that the agency “employs over 1,200 Hamas members, including terrorists who participated in the October 7th massacre,” adding that “if a state funds UNRWA, that state is funding terrorists.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s supreme court dismissed a petition from the Palestinian human rights group Adalah challenging the ban, but it acknowledged that the legislation only prohibits UNRWA’s operations on “the sovereign territory of the State of Israel,” not within Gaza and the West Bank.
However, it does apply to Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, where UNRWA has a field headquarters for its activities in the West Bank.
In response, Adalah noted that the law would be enacted “disregarding the catastrophic humanitarian consequences.”
The UNRWA building in East Jerusalem
The ban, supported by Israel’s primary ally, the United States, has attracted backlash from aid organizations and US partners.
UNRWA reported that it has facilitated 60% of the food aid brought into Gaza since the onset of the conflict.
Israeli envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, urged the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the agency must discontinue its operations and vacate all locations it occupies in annexed East Jerusalem.
In reaction, Mr. Guterres called for Israel to retract its order.
“I regret this decision and ask that the government of Israel rescind it,” he said, emphasizing that UNRWA is “irreplaceable.”
Its Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, asserted that the agency’s ability to distribute aid “far exceeds that of any other entity.”
He described Israel’s actions against UNRWA as a “relentless assault … harming the lives and future of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory.”
Latest Middle East stories
Israel asserts that several of the organization’s employees were involved in the 2023 attack and maintains that other agencies are capable of stepping in to provide essential services, aid, and reconstruction—claims disputed by the UN and many donor governments.
A series of investigations, including one led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, identified some “neutrality-related issues” at UNRWA but emphasized that Israel had not presented evidence for its primary allegation.
