The legislation, approved on Monday, would – if implemented – prevent UNRWA from providing life-saving support to Palestinians across Israeli-occupied Gaza and the West Bank, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.
“We will not allow this. The overwhelming vote of the Knesset reflects Israel’s transformation into a fascist state,” said a Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
Hamas also denounced the move saying it considers the bill a “part of the Zionist war and aggression against our people”, while the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) called it “an escalation in the genocide” against Palestinians.
Fu Cong, the Chinese envoy to the UN, called the Israeli move “outrageous”. Vasily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN ambassador, described Israel’s UNRWA ban as “terrible” and said it worsens the situation in Gaza.
Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “strongly condemned” the Israeli move, describing it as a “flagrant violation of international law and the obligations of Israel as the occupying power” in Palestine.
The governments of the four European countries including Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain issued a joint statement condemning the Knesset’s targeting of the agency.
“UNRWA has a mandate from the United Nations General Assembly,” the statement noted. “The legislation approved by the Knesset sets a very serious precedent for the work of the United Nations and for all organizations of the multilateral system.”
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said UNRWA does life-saving work and her government opposes the Israeli Knesset’s decision to “severely restrict” the agency’s operations.
Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib urged Israeli authorities to let UNRWA carry out its UN General Assembly-ordered mandate across the Middle East. Lahbib said the agency provided “life-saving services in Gaza, the West Bank – including East Jerusalem – and across Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan”.
The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X that it is “concerned about the humanitarian, political and legal implications” of the Israeli laws banning cooperation with UNRWA.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said UNRWA has been an “irreplaceable lifeline” for the Palestinian people for the past seven decades.
“This is intolerable. It contravenes Israel’s obligations and responsibilities, and threatens the lives and health of all those who depend on UNRWA.”
In a related development, top UN officials continued to line up on Tuesday to defend the irreplaceable role of the global body’s agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, insisting that if implemented, the Israeli parliament’s decision to ban it would only deepen suffering in Gaza, the official website of the UN reported on Wednesday.
UNRWA is the main humanitarian organization in Gaza and the West Bank and operates in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 after the 1948 Nakba to protect and assist Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homes.
It became operational on May 1, 1950, and since then has helped generations of refugees, many of whom still live in camps. It provides education, healthcare, social services, and emergency relief to people living in refugee camps in the Palestinian territory, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
Since the onset of the Gaza war over a year ago, over 43,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Strip. Additionally, 2,500 have been killed in Lebanon.
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