The Israeli Knesset’s decision to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has been condemned around the world, even by Israel’s allies.
The World Health Organisation chief warned that the Israeli ban against UNRWA will have “devastating consequences” as the agency is an “irreplaceable lifeline.”
“UNRWA is an irreplaceable lifeline to the Palestinian people. And it has been for the past seven decades,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said late on Monday on X.
“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. This is intolerable,” Tedros said.
He stressed that it contravenes Israel’s obligations and responsibilities, and threatens the lives and health of all those who depend on UNRWA.
World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic added that UNRWA’s work “couldn’t be matched” by any agency, including the WHO.
Regarding delivery of health services, 3,000 out of 13,000 UNRWA staff are health workers, Jasarevic said.
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“They basically provided more than 6 million medical consultations last year in the health centres that are run by UNRWA, and they have been providing this consultation for more than half of Gaza population,” he said.
He added that UNRWA staff are also involved in immunisation of children, screening for disease surveillance, screening for malnutrition, and have been active in polio campaigns.
One-third of the team members for polio are UNRWA, he said, adding: “So really, … (their work) it couldn’t be matched by any agency, including WHO.”
Despite objections from around the world, Israeli lawmakers passed on Monday the controversial bill 92-10, banning UNRWA from working in Israel and occupied territories.
Israel has accused UNRWA employees of complicity in the October 7, 2023 cross-border incursion by Hamas. UNRWA, however, denies the accusations.
The legislation, to take effect within three months, would end contact between UNRWA and Israeli officials, preventing the agency from providing life-saving support to Palestinians across Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The agency was established by the General Assembly in December 1949 to carry out relief and works programs for Palestine refugees. It began its operations on May 1, 1950.
More reaction
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, for his part, warned that the decision could cause further loss of children’s lives.
“A decision such of this suddenly means that a new way has been found to kill children,” Elder said.
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stressed implementation of this decision would be a “collective punishment.”
“If implemented, this would add to the acts of collective punishment that we have seen imposed on Gaza,” Laerke warned.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it cannot substitute UNRWA in Gaza, but is keen to increase support to those in need.
“There is no way that IOM can step in to do what UNRWA is done. UNRWA is absolutely essential to the people of Gaza,” Director General Amy Pope said.
“But we can provide support to those people who are currently in crisis,” Pope said, adding: “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.”
Meanwhile, the US on Monday said it is “deeply concerned” by the proposed Israeli legislation to ban Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, expressing that the agency plays a “critical” role in delivering assistance to civilians in Gaza.
“Passage of this legislation could have implications under U.S. law,” State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said a press briefing.
Noting that UNRWA plays an important role providing services to Palestinians in the West Bank and throughout the region, Miller said the agency plays an “irreplaceable role” in Gaza, where they are on the front lines getting humanitarian assistance to the people.
“There’s nobody that can replace them right now in the middle of the crisis,” he added.
“We continue to urge the Government of Israel to pause the implementation of this legislation. We urge them not to pass it at all, and we will consider next steps based on what happens in the days,” he added.
On the worsening humanitarian situation in northern Gaza, Miller said the food and water and medicine was not getting into people in the Jabalia refugee camp, adding: “We want to see that change.”
Arab reaction
The Palestinian group Hamas denounced Israel’s decision to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from operating in the country, saying the move aims to “starve the Palestinian people.”
At a press conference held Monday evening in Nouakchott, Mauritania, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the decision was a “challenge to the international community” and a blatant attempt to block critical services for Palestinians.
“The purpose of stopping the activities of this agency is to starve the Palestinian people and cut off various services, including health services,” Hamdan said.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said the Israeli move against UNRWA represents “a flagrant violation of international law and the obligations of Israel as an occupying force” in the Palestinian territories.
It added that passing the draft law was part of the Israeli campaign against UNRWA, and stressed that the international community must continue to provide financial and political support to the refugee agency.
Palestinian Presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh rejected the Israeli banning of UNRWA, considering it a “challenge to international legitimacy and UN resolutions.”
He added that the Israeli move aims to liquidate the issue of refugees and their right to return and compensation.
Abu Rudeineh stressed that the international community “must treat Israel as a racist state and remove it from international legitimacy.”
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry decried the Israeli law to ban UNRWA as “part of a long series of Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law that reflects an unacceptable disregard for the international community and the UN.”
It emphasized that the UNRWA’s role “can’t be replaced or dispensed with, and it is high time for the UN Security Council to assume its primary role in maintaining international peace and security.”
