What effect will Israel's UNRWA ban have?

The UN agency warns of the potential collapse of the humanitarian operation in Gaza

UNRWA has long been the target of Israeli politicians who say it prolongs the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and harbours Hamas militants and weaponry, among other accusations. AFP

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Israel was widely criticised on Tuesday after its parliament passed bills that ban the UN’s relief agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, from operating in areas where Israeli law applies.

The bills, which were passed late on Monday and will take three months to come into effect, are a major blow to the 75-year-old organisation that serves six million Palestinian refugees across the occupied territories and the Middle East.

Fears are rising about what the ban means for the organisation’s operations in Gaza, where it has a central role in distributing aid to deal with a widespread humanitarian crisis. Much of the aid UNRWA distributes passes through Israeli crossings.

“UNRWA’s supply chains would break down. If implemented, the bills are likely to collapse UNRWA’s operation in Gaza, threatening the collapse of the entire UN humanitarian operation which relies on UNRWA’s platforms,” said Tamara Al Rifai, director of external communications at UNRWA.

“Recent months have demonstrated that the UN, especially UNRWA, is the entity best able to secure aid delivery without it being looted by armed actors. UNRWA is also the only entity able to restart education for over 650,000 children, and its collapse risks the loss of an entire generation,” Ms Al Rifai added.

The UN agency uses Israeli banks to transfer funds into Gaza and the occupied West Bank, by far the simplest means of funding its several projects. The new ban risks making it impossible for Israeli banks to continue this relationship. The laws will also almost certainly lead to the closure of UNRWA’s West Bank field office in East Jerusalem, which has been the target of Israeli protesters, who over the past year have become increasingly violent.

“The bills would collapse UNRWA operations in the occupied West Bank where UNRWA runs 96 schools (47,000 students), three vocational training centres, 43 health centres and delivers cash assistance payments and other assistance to over 150,000 Palestine Refugees,” Ms Al Rifai said.

The measures could stop the organisation’s international staff from visiting areas that Israel controls. The organisation even fears that its staff could be detained, Ms Al Rifai added.

International condemnation

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the laws would have “devastating consequences for Palestinian refugees” and called on Israel to respect the UN charter and international law. “There is no alternative to UNRWA,” Mr Guterres added.

UNRWA's Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X shortly after the laws were passed that they “increase the suffering of the Palestinians and are nothing less than collective punishment”.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is prepared to work with the international community to get aid into Gaza during the 90 days before legislation comes into effect. However, former UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness told The National that: “This decision will turn a humanitarian catastrophe into a humanitarian ‘apocalypse”. I use that word advisedly, as I believe we are seeing Gaza transformed on live TV into an industrial scale death camp.”

There were also condemnations across the international community. EU security and foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the laws would “de facto render UNRWA’s vital operations in Gaza impossible”.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said: “No one can take on UNRWA's responsibilities in meeting the fundamental needs of Palestine refugees for food, protection, shelter, health care, and education. UNRWA is making a tremendous effort when other aid organisations have been forced to leave Gaza.”

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the move was “disastrous and shameful”.

International charity Oxfam said the bills were part of a systematic dismantling of Gaza “as a land that is autonomous and liveable for Palestinians”.

“Israel has bombed Palestinians to death, maimed them, starved them, and is now ridding them of their biggest lifeline of aid.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that “only UNRWA can deliver humanitarian aid at the scale and pace needed” in Gaza and also highlighted the effect the laws will have on the West Bank, saying the move jeopardises “delivery of essential health and education services” in the territory.

Israel had been under pressure from its allies not to attack the organisation before the bills were passed. Foreign ministers from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the UK on Saturday expressed “grave concern” at the legislation.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller urged Israel in a media briefing on Monday not to implement the bills, just before they were passed. “If UNRWA goes away, you will see civilians, including children, including babies, not be able to get access to food and water and medicine that they need to live. We find that unacceptable,” he said.

Earlier in the month, the Biden administration sent the Israeli government a letter saying it had 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in the strip or risk putting US arms exports to Israel at risk.

UNRWA has long been under attack in Israel, where it faces accusations of links to Hamas, which has been repeatedly denied by the agency. There has been even more hostility since October 7 directed at UN agencies, NGOs and humanitarian agencies working with Palestinians, particularly in Gaza. Israel has accused UNRWA staff members of taking part in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 last year and the army says it has uncovered Hamas weapons and tunnel entrances at UNRWA centres, including schools.

UNRWA has responded to these accusations saying: “Since the mid-2000s, during conflicts in Gaza, there have been instances when armed actors from both sides have violated the neutrality of UNRWA sites, which are protected by international law.

“They have, for example, entered UNRWA buildings or used them for military purposes. UNRWA has systematically condemned such violations of UN premises.”