UNRWA Faces Collapse as Israel Bans Aid Agency, Triggering International Outrage
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is facing its “darkest hour” and requires urgent international support after Israel banned the organization, its chief has warned, Al Jazeera reports.
“Without intervention by member states, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner-general, told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
Lazzarini urged the UN, which created UNRWA in 1949, to prevent the implementation of the ban in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday announced the cancellation of a 1967 cooperation agreement that formed the legal basis for its relations with UNRWA. The move was met with widespread condemnation.
“UNRWA – the organization whose employees participated in the October 7 massacre and many of whose employees are Hamas operatives – is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution,” said Israel Katz, the country’s newly appointed defense minister.
Israel claims that several UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, though it has yet to provide evidence despite repeated requests from UNRWA.
UNRWA, which provides essential services to nearly six million Palestinian refugees, has stated that it takes measures to ensure neutrality.
The ban has sparked fears that UNRWA employees will lose their ability to coordinate with Israeli authorities, hampering their ability to move freely in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Since Israel’s war on Gaza began last October, UNRWA itself has suffered heavy losses, with at least 223 of its staff killed and two-thirds of its facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed.
Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer for the State of Palestine at the UN, described the ban as “proof of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.”
Hadi Hashim, the interim representative for Lebanon at the UN, called the ban a “war crime” and highlighted UNRWA’s crucial role in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, not just Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Jordan, South Africa, and the European Union have also condemned Israel’s decision.
However, Israeli ambassador Danny Danon dismissed the agency as “a failure.”
Israeli authorities have long pushed for the agency’s dismantling, arguing that its mission is outdated and that it fosters anti-Israel sentiment. UNRWA strongly refutes these claims.
The ban comes amidst a renewed push by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reduce US support for UNRWA, the agency’s largest donor.
