A law passed by Israel on Monday to ban the UN Palestinian refugee agency from operating inside Israel has raised concerns about its ability to provide relief in Gaza after over a year of war.
“If UNRWA is unable to operate, it’ll likely see the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza,” said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, who has worked extensively in Gaza since the Oct. 7 war began. “So a decision such as this suddenly means that a new way has been found to kill children.”
Other UN agencies at the same briefing said it would be impossible to fill the void. “It is indispensable and there is no alternative to it at this point,” said UN humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke.
In response to a question about whether the ban represented a form of collective punishment against Gazans, he said: “I think it is a fair description of what they have decided here, if implemented, that this would add to the acts of collective punishment that we have seen imposed on Gaza.”
The head of the International Organization for Migration said IOM could not replace UNRWA in Gaza but that it could provide more relief to those in crisis. “That is a role that we are very, very keen to play, and one that we will be stepping up with the support of various stakeholders,” IOM Director-General Amy Pope said.
Turkey has condemned a ban passed by the Israeli parliament on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a violation of international law.
"By targeting UNRWA, Israel aims to destroy the two-state solution and prevent the return of Palestine refugees to their homeland," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
UNRWA had since 1949 provided vital assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees and its efforts were crucial to regional stability, the statement said.
"It is the legal and moral obligation of the international community to take a strong stance against attempts to ban UNRWA, which was established by a UN General Assembly resolution," it said.
Turkey pledged as chair of the UNRWA financing group to continue providing political and financial support to the agency.
Qatar condemns ban
Gaza war mediator Qatar on Tuesday condemned the Israeli parliament’s decision to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Israel, the Gulf emirate’s foreign ministry said.
Israeli lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly voted to ban the agency, UNRWA, from working in Israel and annexed east Jerusalem.
The lawmakers also passed a measure prohibiting Israeli officials from working with UNRWA and its employees.
“We emphasize that stopping support for UNRWA will have disastrous consequences,” ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told reporters.
“The international community cannot stand silent in the face of this disregard for its international institutions,” he added.
The United Nations and countries across the globe have denounced Israel after its parliament passed two laws that brands the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) a “terror” group and bans the humanitarian organisation from operating on Israeli soil.
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.
UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to support Palestinian refugees expelled from their homes during the creation of Israel and it remains the main organisation providing humanitarian services in Gaza, and supports millions of Palestinians refugees in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Palestine
The Palestinian presidency rejected and condemned the Israeli legislation.
“We will not allow this. The overwhelming vote of the Knesset reflects Israel’s transformation into a fascist state,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the presidency in Ramallah.
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
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called UNRWA’s work “indispensable” and said there is “no alternative” to the agency.
“The implementation of the laws could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is unacceptable,” he said, urging Israel to “act consistently with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and its other obligations under international law”.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, meanwhile, said the Knesset move set a “dangerous precedent” as it “opposes the UN Charter and violates the State of Israel’s obligations under international law”.
“These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in #Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell,” he wrote on X.
China
Fu Cong, the Chinese envoy to the UN, called the Israeli move “outrageous”.
“We are firmly opposed to this decision. As I said, this is an outrageous decision and we do believe that UNRWA has played a key role in maintaining a lifeline for the Palestinian people in Gaza,” he told reporters in New York.
Russia
Vasily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN ambassador, described Israel’s UNRWA ban as “terrible” and said it worsens the situation in Gaza. He also called on Israel’s main ally, the United States, to “pay their dues to UNRWA to demonstrate their commitment to the agency”.
The US had withdrawn funding from UNRWA after Israel accused some of the agency’s staff of taking part in Hamas’s October 7 attacks on southern Israel – a move by the US that critics have labelled disproportionate.
United Kingdom
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed grave concern and said the Israeli legislation “risks making UNRWA’s essential work for Palestinians impossible”. He described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “simply unacceptable” and said Israel must ensure sufficient aid reaches civilians in the enclave.
“Only UNRWA can deliver humanitarian aid at the scale and pace needed,” he said.
Jordan
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. He warned that the Israeli campaign “aimed at assassinating UNRWA politically” would have “catastrophic consequences”.
Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain
The governments of the four European countries – all of which have recognised Palestinian statehood – 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.”
Australia
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.
“Australia again calls on Israel to comply with the binding orders of the [International Court of Justice] to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale in Gaza,” she wrote on X.
Belgium
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”.
“UNRWA is crucial to regional stability,” she wrote on X.
Switzerland
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
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said UNRWA has been an “irreplaceable lifeline” for the Palestinian people for the past seven decades.
“UNRWA was created by the UN member states. Today’s decision by the Israeli parliament barring UNRWA from its life-saving and health-protecting work on behalf of millions of Palestinians will have devastating consequences,” he said in a post on X.
“This is intolerable. It contravenes Israel’s obligations and responsibilities, and threatens the lives and health of all those who depend on UNRWA.”
Keeping Gaza people ‘alive’
An official from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday the organization was “irreplaceable” as its network helps sustain the people of war-ravaged Gaza.
For more than seven decades, UNRWA has provided critical support to Palestinian refugees.
But the agency has faced mounting criticism from Israeli officials, escalating since the start of war in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 attacks last year.
But Jonathan Fowler, UNRWA’s spokesman in Jerusalem, called the agency the backbone of humanitarian work in the Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza.
“UNRWA is irreplaceable, UNRWA is essential. That remains a fact, whatever the legislation that was passed yesterday,” Fowler, who called the bill “an outrage,” told AFP in an interview at the agency’s compound in east Jerusalem.
With around 18,000 staff the occupied West Bank and Gaza, including 13,000 education staff and 1,500 health care workers, UNRWA has delivered vital aid since 1949.
Fowler said UNRWA hopes the decision will be rescinded, and is “not in the mindset” of thinking of replacement.
“It is on the international community that if this moves forward, and on the Israeli authorities as members of the international community, to say what the plan B is,” should the decision be enforced in three months.
Unlike other UN agencies, which rely on external partners, UNRWA directly employs teachers and health care staff of its own, including 13,000 staff in Gaza.
“The entire UN system and other international players rely on UNRWA’s logistical networks, on UNRWA’s staff to do what is necessary to try to keep the population of Gaza alive. We are the backbone,” said Fowler.
“So the question is, who would be the people who would do this stuff?” he added.
Ireland urges EU to reconsider Israel trade
Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris urged the EU to review trade ties with Israel Tuesday over Israeli lawmakers’ “despicable” ban of UNRWA.
The Irish leader criticized the Israeli parliament’s “shameful” banning of the agency, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza.
“The most important action that the European Union could take right now is reviewing trade relations,” Harris told reporters in Dublin before meeting incoming European Council president Antonio Costa.
“What Israel and the Israeli Knesset did last night was despicable, disgraceful and shameful. More people will die, more children will starve,” he said.
Harris added there was “no alternative” to UNRWA, and that he would discuss with Costa “how Europe now needs to find the moral courage... to act in relation to this.
“Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia and others have been calling for more actions at an EU level. I think that would be a very effective way and I’ll be continuing to make that case,” he said.
Costa replaces outgoing EU Council chief Charles Michel on December 1 and is touring European capitals prior to taking up the new post.
He did not speak to the media ahead of meeting Harris in the Irish capital.
Ireland, along with Spain, Norway and Slovenia, earlier this year formally recognized a Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
They have been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s conduct since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas which sparked the latest rounds of violence across the region.
In February, Dublin and Madrid asked the EU to “urgently” examine whether Israel was complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza under an accord linking them to trade ties.
They noted the “EU/Israel Association Agreement... makes respect for human rights and democratic principles an essential element of the relationship.”
