The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee yesterday approved two bills which stop the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Israel; they await final approval before being passed into law.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the first bill stipulates that UNRWA will no longer be permitted to “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly” in Israel.
The second declares that the treaty between Israel and UNRWA, originally signed after the Six-Day War in 1967, expires today or following the final approval of the bill by the Knesset. It also revokes the immunity and special rights previously granted to UNRWA staff.
In response, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the Israeli Knesset’s Foreign Affairs Committee for approving legislation aimed at disrupting the work of UNRWA, which provides vital services to Palestinian refugees under a binding UN resolution.
In a statement issued yesterday evening, the ministry called the move a blatant attack on the United Nations and its agencies, viewing it as part of Israel’s broader war against the Palestinian people and their rights, particularly the right of return as outlined in UN Resolution 194. The ministry also described the bill as an extension of Israel’s ongoing violations and attacks on UNRWA, its institutions, staff and schools.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has previously sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to block the proposed bills targeting UNRWA and warned that the legislation would halt UNRWA’s operations in the West Bank and Gaza, cutting off essential aid to Palestinian refugees.
He highlighted that UNRWA operates nearly 400 schools and 65 medical centres in these regions, providing services to over 350,000 children and supporting much of Gaza’s population. Guterres expressed deep concern over any legislation severing ties between a UN member state and a UN agency, calling it a “very worrisome development”. He added that if the bills pass, he would raise the issue with the UN General Assembly.
The bills will return to the Knesset for final approval after its winter session begins on 28 October, reported the Jerusalem Post.
UNRWA was established in 1949 and provides relief to Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
Israel has long sought to discredit the organisation, 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.
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