Jerusalem: Israeli lawmakers passed two laws on Monday that could threaten the work of the main U.N. agency providing aid to people in Gaza by barring it from operating on Israeli soil, severing ties with it and labeling it a “terror organization.”
The laws, which do not immediately take effect, signal a new low for a long-troubled relationship between Israel and the U.N. Israel’s international allies said they were deeply worried about their potential impact on Palestinians as the Gaza war’s humanitarian toll worsens.
Under the first law, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, would be banned from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel. The second law would sever Israel’s diplomatic ties with the agency.
The laws risk collapsing the already fragile process for distributing aid in Gaza at a moment when Israel is under increased U.S. pressure to ramp up aid. UNRWA’s chief called them “a dangerous precedent.”
Israel has alleged that some of UNRWA’s thousands of staff members “participated in the Hamas attacks” last year. It also has said hundreds of UNRWA staff have “militant ties” and that it has found Hamas military assets in or under the agency’s facilities.
The agency fired nine employees after an investigation but denied it knowingly aids armed groups and said it acts quickly to purge any suspected militants from its ranks. Some of Israel’s allegations prompted major international donors to cut funding to the agency, although some of it has been restored.
Israel has repeatedly raided or attacked UNRWA schools or other facilities in Gaza killing hundreds of civilians including children. UNRWA says more than 200 of its employees have been killed by Israel in Gaza.
The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said the new laws were part of an “ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA.”
“These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza,” he said on the social platform X.
The first vote passed 92-10 and followed a fiery debate between supporters of the law and its opponents, mostly members of Arab parliamentary parties. The second law was approved 87-9.
Together, the laws would effectively sever ties with the U.N. agency, strip it of legal immunities and restrict its ability to support Palestinians in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The legislation does not provide for alternative organizations to oversee its work.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said UNRWA would be prevented from doing U.N. General Assembly-mandated work if the laws are implemented. “There is no alternative to UNRWA,” he said in a statement issued Monday night.
UNRWA provides education, health care and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region, including in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Guterres called on Israel “to act consistently with its obligations” under the U.N. Charter and international law, as well as the privileges and immunities of the United Nations. “National legislation cannot alter those obligations,” Guterres stressed in a statement.
“The law that we passed now is not just another bill. It is a call for justice and a wake up call,” said lawmaker Boaz Bismuth, who co-sponsored one of the bills. “UNRWA is not an aid agency for refugees. It is an aid agency for Hamas.”
An English language account on X for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Israel was ready to work with international partners to ensure it “continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.” The post did not say how, and it was not clear how the flow of aid would be affected once these bills take effect.
International allies of Israel’s have opposed the moves
The changes could be a serious blow to Palestinians in Gaza. More than 1.9 million Palestinians are displaced from their homes, and Gaza faces widespread shortages of food, water and medicine.
International aid groups and a handful of Israel’s Western allies, including the U.S., have voiced strong opposition.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, speaking to reporters in Washington before the votes, said the administration was “deeply concerned” by the legislation. “There’s nobody that can replace them right now in the middle of the crisis,” he said.
The laws would go into effect 60 to 90 days after Israel’s Foreign Ministry notifies the U.N., according to the spokesperson of lawmaker Dan Illouz, one of the co-sponsors of one of the laws.
Death toll in Gaza surpasses 43,000 as Israeli raids continue
Israel has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians since the beginning of its recent war on Gaza, officials in Gaza reported Monday. This include at least 17,000 children and more than 11,400 woman. Israel has killed more than 174 journalists and over 1000 healthcare workers in Gaza.
The rising death toll comes as Israel continues its offensive in northern Gaza, which many including UN agencies have termed as “ethnic cleansing.” The Israeli military has called on Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza and said that its operation in Jabaliya would last “several more weeks.”
Jabaliya is an urban refugee camp in northern Gaza that dates back to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians famously known as ‘Nakba’, surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948.
Israeli forces raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza on Friday. The army detained hundreds of Palestinians from the hospital including health care workers, patients and others who had sought shelter in the facility.
The Israeli officials claimed medical staff were detained and searched because some of the militants had disguised themselves as medics.
The World Health Organization accused Israel of detaining 44 male hospital staff. Palestinian medical officials said the hospital, which was treating some 200 patients, was heavily damaged in the raid.
Israel has raided several hospitals over the course of its yearlong attack on Gaza, claiming Hamas and other militants use them for military purposes without providing evidence.
The U.N. said earlier this month at least 400,000 people are in northern Gaza, an area that was an early target of Israel’s attacks. Hunger is rampant as the amount of humanitarian aid reaching the north has plummeted over the past month.
International mediators renew efforts for a Gaza cease-fire
After collapsing in late summer, international mediators were trying to jump-start cease-fire efforts between Israel and Hamas. Israel said it would continue discussions on a halt in fighting after the head of the Mossad agency, David Barnea, returned from a meeting in Qatar with the head of the CIA, David Burns, and the Qatari prime minister.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has suggested a two-day cease-fire in exchange for the release of four hostages. Israel appeared responsive to the idea.
One Israeli official said Israel was discussing the proposal both internally and with Egyptian officials. A second official said Netanyahu expressed enthusiasm for the proposal in a meeting with his Likud party on Monday.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.
Hamas has yet to formally respond to the plan and Hamas officials were not reachable for comment on Monday.
