US: ‘UNRWA is not a terrorist organisation’, Israel should not designate it as such

UNRWA “is not a terrorist organisation”, US State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said yesterday, urging the Israeli government to halt legislation that could declare it as such.

“We have been clear about the important role that UNRWA plays in delivering humanitarian assistance and other critical assistance to Palestinians in Gaza – and throughout the region, not just in Gaza,” Miller said in a press conference.

“As you know, we are currently barred by statute from providing assistance through UNRWA, but that doesn’t mean we don’t support the work that they do and we don’t support other ways to get humanitarian assistance,” he continued, referencing legislation put in place since January when Israel claimed UNRWA staff had taken part in infiltration of Israeli towns on 7 October, providing no proof for the claims.

“The attacks that the Israeli Government has levelled on UNRWA are incredibly unhelpful. They do nothing to advance the cause of getting humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.”

On Monday, Israel’s Knesset approved in preliminary reading of a bill that designates UNRWA sd a terrorist organisation and proposes severing all ties with the humanitarian agency.

Read: UK reinstates funding to UNRWA

After passing its first reading, the legislation will go to a parliamentary committee for further deliberation.

UNRWA, which has more than 30,000 employees and serves some 5.9 million Palestine refugees in the region, has been accused by Israel of employing “more than 400 terrorists” in the Gaza Strip.

The United States suspended funding to the UN agency after Israel’s “unsubstantiated” allegations.

Several other countries that also withdrew funding for UNRWA have since reinstated their contributions, including Britain, France and the European Union.

Israel has repeatedly equated UNRWA staff with Hamas members in efforts to discredit them, providing no proof of the claims, while lobbying hard to have UNRWA closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees.

If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.