OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Despite widespread international opposition, the Israeli Knesset voted overwhelming on Monday evening to approve two bills essentially barring the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israel.
During the opening plenum session of the Knesset’s winter legislative session, MKs voted 92 to 10 to approve a law barring UNRWA from operating in Israel.
UNRWA — short for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — provides education, health care and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Responding to the “unprecedented” vote, UNRWA warned that the legislation “sets a dangerous precedent,” breaches the UN charter “and violates the State of Israel’s obligations under international law.”
“These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell… and are nothing less than collective punishment,” the agency said in a statement.
