The Israeli parliament plans to ban UNRWA activities on its territory

The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) will resume its parliamentary activities this Monday after concluding a three-month recess, and all indications are that it will do so by passing several laws that the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) , which links Hamas, ban operating in Israeli territory, including East Jerusalem, which was unilaterally annexed in 1980.

On July 22, lawmakers took the first step by approving on first reading – Israeli laws require three readings to be ratified – three bills aimed at banning their activities in Israel, stripping staff of their immunities and privileges , and declare it a “terrorist organization.” “

He first invoicepresented by Likud deputy – Benjamin Netanyahu’s party – Boaz Bismuth, seeks completely halt UNRWA operations in IsraelThat would mean the end of his work in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian territory occupied after the 1967 war and unilaterally annexed in 1980, a decision not recognized by the international community.

UNRWA currently provides services, such as education and healthcare, in some refugee camps in East Jerusalem, such as Shuafat. Without coordination with Israel, it would be virtually impossible for the agency to work in Gaza, where it is currently responsible for aid distribution, or in the refugee camps in the West Bank, as Israel would also no longer issue entry permits to the occupied Palestinian territory. areas Would it allow coordination with the military?

He second project seeks to revoke the exemptions granted to the UN agency, including tax exemptions and its immunity status. It would also prohibit any government agency or public entity from having contact with UNRWA or persons representing it.

He third billwhich wanted to declare the organization a ‘terrorist organization’ is no longer on the table due to legal obstacles, the Israeli press reports.

Israel has justified these laws by claiming that approximately 2,100 UNRWA employees belong to the Islamist organization Hamas, but without providing conclusive evidence.

This Sunday, the foreign ministers of Australia, France, Germany, Canada, South Korea and the United Kingdom issued a statement expressing “deep concern” that these laws are going ahead and asking Israel to “comply with its international obligations.” to fulfil”. allowing UNRWA to continue its activities.

Even the United States, Israel’s biggest military and diplomatic supporter, opposes the two bills expected to be voted on tomorrow. Early this month, the Joe Biden administration sent a letter to Israeli authorities expressing its rejection of the adoption of these laws, which they say will be a blow to humanitarian aid in Gaza and will deprive Gaza of humanitarian aid. tens of thousands of Palestinians in Jerusalem are deprived of basic social services, such as education.

“The backbone of aid in Gaza”

UNRWA is “the backbone of humanitarian operations in Gaza,” said Jonathan Fowdler, one of the organization’s spokespersons, who emphasized that without the organization’s work, 660,000 Gazan children would lose the only entity able to continue their education .

Outside the devastated enclave, where last year’s Israeli offensive has left more than 42,000 dead, most of them women and children, the education and health services on which thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank depend would be dismantled, limiting the ability to survival is at risk. to reach a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Since October 7, 2023, more than 220 UNRWA workers have been killed by Israel and 190 facilities damaged.

Established by the UN in 1950, UNRWA provides social services to more than five million Palestinian refugees – many descendants of the hundreds of thousands displaced by the establishment of the State of Israel – living in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Syria live. and Jordan.