Europe’s far right joins Israeli push for ethnic cleansing of Gaza, targeting UNRWA

With growing concern that Israel plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza, right-wing European political parties with a history of anti-Semitism are supporting efforts by the occupation state to discredit and ban the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The latest such move comes from Spain’s far-right Vox party, which has intensified its campaign to designate UNRWA as a terrorist organisation, aligning itself with the position of the far-right Israeli government.

Since 1948, when Israel’s initial campaign of ethnic cleansing expelled over 750,000 Palestinian Muslims and Christians to establish a state rooted in Jewish supremacy, UNRWA has been a lifeline for the Palestinian people, providing essential aid and support. Its role has been critical in sustaining communities uprooted by decades of displacement and conflict.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Jorge Martín Frías, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) representing Vox, has demanded that the European Commission take “clarity and determination” in addressing what he terms UNRWA’s “ongoing relationship with the terrorist group Hamas.” The push comes amidst mounting international alarm over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

Western allies, including the US, Britain and France, have expressed deep concern about calls to ban UNRWA, warning that such action would have a catastrophic impact on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The EU’s High Representative Josep Borrell recently approved over €82 million ($89m) in UNRWA funding, emphasising the agency’s critical role in providing essential services to Palestinian refugees.

The controversy has intensified following Israel’s latest legislation blocking UNRWA operations in areas under its control, including occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. This move has drawn criticism from multiple Western nations, with several foreign ministers issuing a joint statement warning of the severe humanitarian consequences of such a move.

READ: Israel forced the world to create UNRWA; now it wants UNRWA dead

UNRWA provides vital services, including healthcare, education and emergency assistance to Palestinian refugees. It has consistently denied allegations of links to Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel’s allies. The agency maintains that its work is purely humanitarian and subject to rigorous oversight. Allegations about links to Hamas have never been backed up by Israel with evidence.

The support from European right-wing parties for Israel’s anti-UNRWA stance has raised eyebrows among political analysts, who note the apparent contradiction between these parties’ historical anti-Semitism and their current alignment with Israeli government policies.

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United by their hatred of Islam and Muslims, Israel, Europe’s far-right and India’s ultra-nationalist Hindutva movement — steeped in fascist ideology — have forged a powerful alliance. Meanwhile, mainstream Western parties, despite their professed opposition to fascism, have largely stood and watched, allowing these forces to gain momentum unchecked.

Human rights organisations and UN officials warn that eliminating UNRWA’s presence would create a dangerous vacuum in humanitarian assistance, particularly as Gaza faces what experts describe as an unprecedented humanitarian emergency. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, warned yesterday about Israel carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

In an editorial this week, Israel’s Haaretz issued the same warning about ethnic cleansing, under the headline: “If It Looks Like Ethnic Cleansing, It Probably Is”. The newspaper went to say that, “Ethnic cleansing is both a moral crime and a legal one. Criminal law treats mass expulsions as both a war crime and a crime against humanity. Horrifyingly, some members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government want to commit these crimes.”