UN slams Israeli parliament for banning relief agency

United Nations officials on Monday criticized Israel’s Knesset for passing legislation banning the agency, UNRWA, from operating in the West Bank or Gaza. The legislation, if implemented, would prevent aid from getting to Palestinians who are suffering from the war, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said.

Why is Israel doing this? Israeli authorities earlier this year accused UNRWA workers of participating in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The agency denied Israel’s claims, but an independent investigation later found widespread issues with neutrality—both among its workers and within the organization’s policies and practices. The Knesset’s Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Yuli Edelstein claimed the UNRWA had promoted anti-Semitism and incited terrorism, according to a translation of an official social media post.

What does the relief organization do? The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East was established in 1949 to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people. Banning the organization from Israel would likely prevent 650,000 Palestinian children from receiving education, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said.

What exactly was this legislation? The Knesset passed legislation Monday to bar the UNRWA from operating inside Israeli territory and in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, according to its social media post. It also barred Israeli authorities from contact or involvement with the agency.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Russell’s report in WORLD Magazine, which explains more about the UNRWA.