Brussels asks Israel to repeal ‘extremely worrying’ ban on UNRWA

The European Commission has urged Israel to repeal its recently adopted legislation that bans the UN’s Palestine aid agency from operating in the country and forbids Israeli officials from engaging with it.

The ban, the Commission said, is “extremely worrying” because it would make it “virtually impossible” for UNRWA to carry out its activities in Gaza — where a severe humanitarian crisis is unravelling — and the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as in nearby Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

The agency, formally known as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, is a major provider of emergency relief, education services and healthcare to millions of Palestinian refugees who live in camps across the region.

“As we see it, there is no alternative to UNRWA,” a Commission spokesperson said on Tuesday. “This legislation stands in stark contradiction with international law and (the) fundamental humanitarian principle of humanity.”

“We are asking for Israel to reverse its decision. This is up to them to decide what they want to do with it. But the appeal from our side is very clear,” the spokesperson added.

‘A very serious precedent’

The two laws were adopted on Monday evening with wide support in the Knesset, defying pressure from the international community. The ban will take effect in 90 days, although it remains unclear how it will be implemented on the ground.

In a joint statement, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain expressed their strong condemnation, warning that the measure would set a “very serious precedent for the work of the UN and for all organizations of the multilateral system.”

Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris called it “disastrous and shameful,” while his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, said the laws would risk “jeopardising the entire international humanitarian response in Gaza.”

The Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu has accused UNRWA of being complicit in the terrorist attacks launched by Hamas on 7 October of last year and providing employment to hundreds of militants.

“UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable. Since avoiding a humanitarian crisis is also essential, sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

In response to the allegations raised earlier this year, UNRWA launched an internal investigation, which led to the firing of 12 staff members in January and another nine in August for their possible involvement in the Hamas-led incursion.

The agency has since then defended its independence and neutrality, and called on Israel to provide evidence to back its claims, but the request was largely ignored. All donors, except the United States, have resumed their payments to UNWRA.

Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner-general, said the Israeli ban would “only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell.”

“These bills increase the suffering of the Palestinians and are nothing less than collective punishment,” Lazzarini said.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, over 1,700 Israelis and almost 43,000 Palestinians, including 13,000 Palestinian children, have been reported as killed.