The Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee endorsed on October 7 two bills, pending final approval to be passed as a law, to halt UNRWA’s operations in Israel.
Seven world countries issued a statement on Sunday warning Israel against adopting a proposed Knesset bill banning the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, highlighting the “devastating consequences” of such a move.
The signatories of the joint statement are the foreign ministers of Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.
The seven countries voiced their “grave concern” over the proposed bill in the Israeli Knesset, which they said aims to revoke the “privileges and immunities” of UNRWA “forbidding any contact” between Israel and the UN agency and “prohibiting any UNRWA presence within Israel.
The statement stressed the important work the UN agency conducts within the vulnerable Palestinian community in the occupied territories.
“UNRWA provides essential and life-saving humanitarian aid and basic services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and throughout the region,” the statement read.
"Have we become so numb to the fact that Israel is killing UN personnel?"
Al Jazeera's @elizondogabriel questioned UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq on the silence over a UNRWA staff killed by Israeli forces while driving a marked UN vehicle in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/F4RPinnNvs
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 28, 2024
It warned against the halt of UNRWA’s operations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
“Without its work, the provision of such assistance and services, including education, health care, and fuel distribution in Gaza and the West Bank would be severely hampered if not impossible, with devastating consequences on an already critical and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, particularly in northern Gaza,” the foreign ministers stated.
The foreign ministers reminded Tel Aviv of the importance of the various UN organizations including UNRWA to continue to deliver humanitarian aid and assistance in line with their mandate.
“We urge the Israeli government to abide by its international obligations, keep the reserve privileges and immunities of UNRWA untouched,” they said while stressing the need for Tel Aviv to facilitate “the provision of the sorely needed basic services to the civilian population.”
The foreign ministers commended the steps taken by UNRWA to “address allegations regarding individual employees’ support for terrorist organizations” highlighting the organization’s “willingness to pursue and implement reform.”
The statement concluded by calling on UNRWA to “continue its path of reform as a priority,” while demonstrating “its commitment to the principle of neutrality,” emphasizing that they will closely monitor and support this process.
Israel is set to debate a legislation that would effectively ban operations of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in its occupied territories. Shadia Edwards-Dashti has the latest from occupied East Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/rlZ736Dbxc
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) October 28, 2024
Two Bills Targeting UNRWA
Marking the first anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, the Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee endorsed on October 7 two bills, pending final approval to be passed as a law, to halt the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Israel, Israeli media reported.
The Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post indicated that the first bill stipulates that UNRWA cannot “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly” in Israel.
The second instructs to instantly end the agreement between Tel Aviv and the international organization, which was signed following the 1967 war.
The second bill also reportedly annuls the immunity and special rights previously granted to UNRWA staff.
According to the Jerusalem Post, both bills are expected to return to the Israeli Knesset for final approval on October 28 when the winter session kicks off.
Oh stop this performative BS please. The UK government is 100% complicit in Israel’s murderous campaign in Gaza. If you really felt strongly in @FCDOGovUK you’d all resign. Let’s face it, the UK even withheld funding from UNRWA. Pure hypocrisy. https://t.co/UnyWSQ0ipr
— Charlie Herbert (@Charlie533080) October 27, 2024
Gaza Genocide Continues
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 42,924 Palestinians have been killed, and 100,833 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
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Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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