UNRWA chief urges international community to block implementation of Israel’s ban

Philippe Lazzarini says laws outlawing UNRWA pose 'imminent and existential threat to agency'

A Palestinian carries an aid box distributed by UNRWA in Deir Al Balah. Reuters

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The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Wednesday that UNRWA is in its “darkest hour”, and urged the international community to prevent Israel from enacting a ban on its operations in areas under Israeli control.

“The Israeli Knesset’s legislative action poses an imminent and existential threat to the agency,” Philippe Lazzarini told the 193-member General Assembly, adding that “without intervention by member states, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos”.

“Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israeli officials have described dismantling UNRWA as a war goal. The Knesset legislation serves this objective."

Israel on Monday announced that it would sever ties with UN agency, after recent laws passed in the Knesset that prohibit the agency’s operations in areas under Israeli control and bar Israeli officials from co-ordinating with UNRWA personnel. That would end a 1967 co-operation agreement that allowed for the protection, movement and diplomatic immunity of the agency. The law will also ban UNRWA's operations in Israel from late January.

Palestine’s UN representative Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly that the ban on the agency supporting millions of Palestinian refugees is central to what he called Israel's efforts to “liquidate the question of Palestine”.

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Mr Mansour said this move represents “one more proof of Israel's genocide in Gaza” and forms part of an effort to “strip” Palestinian refugees of their status and “deny them their rights”.

UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang, from Cameroon, voiced his “deep alarm” at the decision made by Israel's legislature, warning that dismantling the agency will undermine the pursuit of a lasting end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and constitute “an attack on the foundations of a two-state solution”.

“Let me be clear, the conflict in the Middle East will not be resolved by force or with further occupation. If it were so, the problem would have long been resolved,” Mr Yang said.

Then-Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz accused several UNRWA employees of involvement in the October 7 attacks and claimed that “many” in the agency are linked to Hamas. Investigations into UNRWA operations uncovered “neutrality-related issues” and suggested that nine employees “may have been involved” in the attacks. But no hard evidence has been found to support Israel’s primary claims.

“In Gaza, dismantling UNRWA will collapse the UN humanitarian response, which relies heavily on the agency's infrastructure,” Mr Lazzarini said. “In the absence of a capable public administration or state, only UNRWA can deliver education to more than 650,000 girls and boys in Gaza. In the absence of UNRWA, an entire generation will be denied the right to education.”

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said the UN agency may be defined by a single word: “failure – both professional and moral”.

Sitting beside freed Israeli hostage Mia Schem in the General Assembly, Mr Danon spoke of the UN's failure to denounce Hamas or to convene a single session focused on the hostages.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric clarified on Wednesday that the UN is not pursuing legal action to halt Israel’s ban on its operations.

“We have written to the Israeli Foreign Ministry in response to the letter, reminding their obligations under international law and also making it clear to them that there it is not our responsibility to replace UNRWA, nor would we have the capacity to do so,” Mr Dujarric said.