Israeli ban on UNRWA would have 'dire' impact, official warns Security Council

Agency employs more than 30,000 staff members serving approximately 5.9 million Palestinian refugees

A Palestinian boy surveys a damaged UNRWA school after an Israeli air strike in Al Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza. EPA

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An Israeli bill that seeks to label the UN agency for Palestinian refugees as a terrorist organisation would have a "dire" impact if passed, a leading UN official warned on Friday.

On Monday, the Israeli parliament gave preliminary approval to three pieces of legislation which propose severing all ties with the humanitarian agency, banning it from the country, and designating it as a terrorist organisation.

“If these bills pass, which could happen as early as next week, the ramifications will be dire and immediate,” Antonia Marie De Meo, UNRWA’s deputy commissioner general, told a Security Council meeting.

“They will put all UNRWA staff and the agency's General Assembly mandate in direct danger.”

The proposed legislation, which is part of an Israeli effort to dismantle the UNRWA, “makes a travesty of the multilateral responsibilities of member states”, she added.

It also seeks to strip UNRWA's employees of the diplomatic privileges and immunity accorded to UN staff.

UNRWA employs more than 30,000 people serving approximately 5.9 million Palestinian refugees across the region. Israel has accused the agency of employing “more than 400 terrorists” in the Gaza Strip.

Russia, which along with Algeria and China, called for the meeting, urged council members not to “play along with the attempts to discredit the agency”.

“We call upon everyone to rise up in its defence. There is no alternative to UNRWA, and this understanding should be the starting point of the council's efforts,” said Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, accused UNRWA of complicity in the Gaza conflict.

He said Israel had provided the agency's commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, with more than 100 names and military IDs of “terrorist operatives currently employed by UNRWA in Gaza”.

“Why has UNRWA failed to terminate up until today these terrorist employees?” asked Mr Erdan.

“Hamas tunnels and weapons, warehouses were found under 30 UNRWA schools, how can you claim that these facilities are entitled to protection?”

On Thursday, EU foreign affairs minister Josep Borrell urged Israel to revoke its decision to outlaw UNRWA.

“Outlawing UNRWA – and labelling it as terrorist, which it is not – amounts to targeting regional stability and human dignity of all those benefiting from the UN agency work,” he said on X.

“We join many partners in urging the Israeli government to halt this nonsense.”

UNRWA has responded to Israel's accusations saying: “Since the mid-2000s, during conflicts in Gaza, there have been instances when armed actors from both sides have violated the neutrality of UNRWA sites, which are protected by international law.

“They have, for example, entered UNRWA buildings or used them for military purposes. UNRWA has systematically condemned such violations of UN premises.”