Israel nullifies agreement with UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees

Israel has officially notified the UN that it is terminating a 1967 agreement with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

West Jerusalem has accused the organization of ties to Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups. The Israeli parliament last week passed legislation banning the work of the UN agency in the country.

The UNRWA was established in 1949 to deal with Palestinian refugees after the creation of the state of Israel led to the Arab-Israeli war. In 1967, following the Six-Day War, Israel requested that the UNRWA continue its operations in Gaza and the West Bank, which it agreed to facilitate.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that “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.” 

He further stated that the UN was presented with “endless evidence about Hamas operatives working at UNRWA and about the use of UNRWA facilities for the terror purposes and nothing was done about it.”

The UN agency has denied the allegations, saying it takes measures to ensure its neutrality. In August, UNRWA fired nine of its staff members, citing their potential involvement in hostilities, while noting that evidence against ten others had turned out to be insufficient.

The Jewish state’s decision to crack down on UNRWA has sparked an international backlash. Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the UK had urged Israel not to outlaw the UNRWA, while expressing “grave concern” regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Katz dismissed the claims there’s no alternative to UNRWA, noting that the vast majority of humanitarian aid is delivered through other organizations while the UN agency handles only 13% of Gaza aid.

“The State of Israel is committed to international law and will continue to allow the introduction of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in a way that does not harm the security of Israeli citizens,” the foreign minister stated.

UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler told AFP on Monday that the Israeli ban on its operations “would be likely to cause the collapse of the international humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip…” 

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza “could soon escalate into famine.” Martin Frick, head of the WFP Berlin office, told German media group RND on Saturday that the agency cannot “replace the important functions of the UNRWA in Gaza, such as the administration of emergency shelters, schools and health centers.” 

According to the UNRWA website, it is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states. Its services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, as well as camp infrastructure, microfinance and emergency assistance.