Israeli MPs vote to ban UN refugee agency

The Israeli parliament has adopted two bills blocking the work of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which helps Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza.

The UNRWA was established in 1949, to deal with Palestinian refugees after the creation of the state of Israel and the ensuing Arab-Israeli war. West Jerusalem has accused it of aiding and abetting Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups.

Members of the Knesset voted 92-10 in favor of the bill declaring that UNRWA will no longer “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly” in Israel.

“UNRWA long ago ceased to be a humanitarian aid agency, but in addition to it being an integral supporter of terror and hate, is an agency to eternalize poverty and suffering,” Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Yuli Edelstein said ahead of the vote on Monday. He also cited Israeli claims that UNRWA employees had participated in the October 7 Hamas attack.

The UN fired nine UNRWA employees in August, after suspicions emerged that they might have been involved in the Hamas incursion last year. Another ten employees were cleared of any wrongdoing.

After the bill passed, Edelstein called it “historic” and said it amounted to “elimination of one of the arms of terror that acted under UN auspices.”

The bill technically applies only to the eastern part of Jerusalem, which Israel claims as its sovereign territory. That is why the Knesset adopted a second bill, with a vote of 87-9, that canceled the 1967 treaty between Israel and UNRWA that allowed the agency to operate on Israeli-controlled territory. The second bill bars all Israeli government agencies or representatives from contacting UNRWA beginning 90 days from passage.

Israel’s Jerusalem Ministry will take over UNRWA’s responsibilities in East Jerusalem, using “independently funded” agencies that will not be a budgetary burden, MK Dan Illouz of the ruling Likud told reporters. According to Illouz, the Israeli government is developing plans to provide an “educational framework” for children and “an alternative health framework” to everyone, which are currently classified.

All of the Arab members of the Knesset, as well as the opposition Democrats Party, voted against the bill. MK Ahmad Tibi, of the Hadash-Ta’al party, pointed out that some 90,000 UNRWA workers provide services to Palestinian refugees and that it should be shut down only when an independent Palestinian state is formed.

Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the UK had urged Israel not to outlaw the UNRWA, expressing “grave concern” with the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Washington has also informed Israel that not providing aid to the Palestinians could bring into question some of the US military aid to Israel.