Israel has stopped cooperation with the United Nations Agency for Aid to the Palestinians

Author:
Oleksandra Opanasenko
Date:

Israel has officially notified the United Nations that it is canceling the 1967 agreement that recognized the Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA).

Reuters writes about it.

This October, Israel adopted a draft law that significantly limits the Agencyʼs activities on the territory of Israel, as well as on the West Bank of the Jordan River and in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has long criticized UNRWA, accusing the agency of "anti-Israel bias." Israel claims that more than 10% of the Agencyʼs personnel in the Gaza Strip are linked to terrorism, and that educational institutions under the organizationʼs auspices routinely incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.

Since the war began last year, Israel says UNRWA has been deeply infiltrated by Hamas militants, and some staff were involved in the October 7, 2023, attack. Israelʼs ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said that, "despite overwhelming evidence", the UN had "done nothing" to resolve the issue with the Agency.

The UN and some Western allies of Israel fear that this will worsen the already difficult humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, Israel claims to provide an unprecedented amount of humanitarian aid even without the Agency. Israel will also expand the activities of other international organizations and contribute to the creation of alternatives to UNRWA.

What preceded

In early 2024, Israel officially provided information on 12 UNRWA staff members who may have been involved in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas militants that killed 1 200 people and abducted 253 to the Gaza Strip. Reuters, citing Israeli intelligence, claimed that 190 UN agency employees participated in the Hamas attack on Israel.

An investigation has begun. UNRWA said they had released the suspects, and the UN promised to punish the guilty. Israel says UNRWA has many members of Hamas, and the country is making efforts to stop the agency from operating in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz says that "UNRWA is not part of the solution, but part of the problem." According to him, it is necessary to create a new agency for the reconstruction of Gaza.

In the summer, the United Nations admitted that nine employees of the Palestinian Aid Agency may have participated in the Hamas attack on Israel. They were released.

Already in October 2024, Israel banned the work of the UN Agency for Aid to the Palestinians.

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