NEW YORK (Palestine Foundation Information Center) UNRWA has issued an urgent warning about an impending Israeli ban that could cripple its ability to deliver essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem.
UNRWA director of communications Juliette Touma told Ireland’s RTE on Friday that time is running out, as the ban is expected to take effect by the end of January following a decision by the Israeli parliament (Knesset) last October.
“The clock is ticking for a possible ban on UNRWA to deliver essential services for millions of Palestine refugees,” Touma said, affirming that the UN has no plans to replace the agency in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“What needs to happen is for the Israeli parliament to retract the decision,” she added.
Touma called such an Israeli measure as unprecedented in the UN history. “It has never happened in the history of the United Nations that a member state decides to ban a UN agency, in the middle of a war, from doing its work.”
In November, the Knesset adopted two bills banning UNRWA from operating in territories under Israeli control.
The Israeli government justified the step, which received widespread international condemnation, by claiming that some UNRWA employees were involved in the cross-border attacks on October 7, 2023, a charge the agency has repeatedly denied.
If enforced, the ban would lead to the shutdown of UNRWA offices and the freezing of its financial accounts in Israel, effectively halting its operations.
Established after the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe), the UNRWA has been a vital lifeline for Palestinian refugees, currently providing services to nearly 5.9 million individuals across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
Since October 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has claimed the lives of over 45,700 civilians, mostly women and children, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding Israel to stop its military campaign against Gaza.
In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and former war minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its ongoing war crimes and atrocities in Gaza.
