Israel has officially ended a decades -continuing cooperation agreement with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the United Nations (UNRWA), which was covering the protection, movement and diplomatic immunity of the agency in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israel notified the United Nations in a message on Sunday, as required under a new law adopted by the Israeli parliament prohibiting UNRWA operations in Israel and preventing Israeli officials from cooperating with it when the law enters into force in late January.
But the end of the 1967 agreement became immediate. UN spokesman Stephen Dujarric told reporters on Monday that the United Nations lawyer is studying the message, adding that “UNRWA continues to work today.”
For years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the dismantling of UNRWA, accusing her of inciting against Israel.
UNRWA says that the new law leaves its operations in the West Bank and Gaza, which Israel occupies at the risk of collapse. Senior United Nations and UNRWA officials describe the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza, where Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement were in a conflict over the past year.
Get breaking national news
For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up to get breaking news alerts delivered to you right as they happen.
“There is no alternative to UNRWA,” Dujarric said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Matthew Miller said on Monday that the United States is opposing Israeli legislation on UNRWA and studying the Israeli message to the United Nations to find out what the repercussions may be.
The amount of aid that enters Gaza has decreased to its lowest level throughout the year, according to United Nations data. A global hunger observer warned of a waving starvation on the horizon, and the United Nations has repeatedly accused Israel of obstruction and obstructing attempts to deliver aid, especially to northern Gaza.
UNRWA was founded in 1949 in the wake of the conflict that surrounded the founding of Israel, when 700,000 Palestinians fled or expelled their homes. Help, health and education provides about 5.9 million descendants of these refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and the neighboring Arab countries.
The new Israeli law does not prohibit UNRWA operations in the West Bank and Gaza, both of which are considered by international law outside the State of Israel, but they are under the Israeli occupation. However, it will severely affect UNRWA’s ability to work.
UNRWA’s Communications Director, Juliet Touma, said that the responsibility rests with the United Nations member states to find a way to carry Israel not to implement the law, describing it as “a race against time.”
Israel accused UNRWA’s employees of being involved in the October 7, 2023 attack launched by Hamas militants on Israel, which sparked the conflict in Gaza. The United Nations said in August that nine UNRWA staff may have participated in the Hamas attack and were separated. Later, it was found that a Hamas leaders in Lebanon – killed by Israel in September – was working in UNRWA.
The Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danone said in a statement on Sunday that despite the irrefutable evidence that we presented to the United Nations, which highlights how Hamas penetrated UNRWA, the United Nations did nothing to address this reality.
Toma said that in addition to achieving the United Nations, UNRWA received one official accusation from the Israeli authorities, claiming that 100 of its employees belonged to the armed Palestinian groups. She added that UNRWA asked for information and cooperation from Israel on these allegations and did not receive a response.
Michelle Nicole’s report. (Participated in the coverage, Mohammed Al -Jabali, Nilottabal Timsina, Tom Perry and Hamira Bamok – prepared by Muhammad Al -Jabali for the Arab Bulletin) Edited by Ross Russell and Rojlabba Operation
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
