Israel has officially notified the United Nations of the cancellation of the agreement that has governed its relations with the United Nations humanitarian organization for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) since 1967, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
The Israeli parliament last week and prevent Israeli authorities from cooperating with the organization, which has said the ban will worsen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza.
Since the start of the Gaza war, Israel has claimed that UNRWA has been infiltrated by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, accusing some of its staff of taking part in the October 7 attack on Israel.
Following an investigation by the United Nations Oversight Office, the United Nations said this in August and had been fired. A Hamas commander in Lebanon, killed last month in an Israeli attack, was later revealed to have had an assignment with UNRWA.
Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement that despite the overwhelming evidence “we have presented to the UN highlighting how Hamas infiltrated UNRWA, the UN has done nothing to address this reality.”
The UN warns that the ban will cause aid operations to collapse
Israel’s letter to the president of the UN General Assembly states that the ban will come into force “after a period of three months”.
Jonathan Fowler, a spokesman for UNRWA, told Agence France-Presse that the move would be disastrous for aid efforts.
“If this law were implemented, it would likely cause the collapse of the international humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip, an operation of which UNRWA is the backbone,” Fowler said.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote in X that last month an average of just 30 trucks were allowed into Gaza per day.
According to the United Nations, before the war around 500 trucks entered the country every day.
The head of the World Health Organization denounced Israel’s decision, saying it would not make the country safer and at the same time would increase the suffering of civilians in Gaza.
“Let me be clear: there is simply no alternative to UNRWA,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a video posted on X.
“This ban will not make Israel safer. It will only aggravate the suffering of the people of Gaza and increase the risk of epidemics,” Tedros added.
Israeli attacks continue in northern Gaza
On the same day as Israel’s notification to the United Nations, Gaza’s health ministry said Israeli forces were shelling the last partially functioning hospital in northern Gaza.
Vowing to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping in northern Gaza, Israel launched a massive air and ground attack nearly a month ago, about a year into the Gaza war.
Rescuers and United Nations agencies say hundreds of people have been killed and the area remains desperately short of essential supplies.
“At this time, the occupation forces continue to violently shell and destroy the Kamal Adwan hospital,” the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Hamas said it had held talks with rival Palestinian faction Fatah in Cairo on “the war in Gaza and avenues for national action.”
