Israel formally notified the United Nations on Monday of its decision to end its relationship with the UN’s Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, which millions of Palestinians rely on to survive.
Israel said it was ending a 1967 agreement that regulated its relations with UNRWA. The move came a week after the Israeli Knesset passed legislation to ban UNRWA activities inside Israel and effectively end its operations in the West Bank and Gaza as well.
The legislation, which is set to fully take effect within 90 days of the bills being passed, prohibits any contact between UNRWA and Israeli authorities, making UNRWA aid deliveries into Gaza impossible. The US warned Israel against implementing the legislation, acknowledging it would mean cutting off food supplies to starving women and children, but that hasn’t stopped Israel from moving ahead with the plan.
UNRWA is responsible for the most significant humanitarian relief operations in Gaza, and the Israeli legislation did not include a plan to replace the agency’s efforts. The UN’s World Food Program said Monday that it was not in a position to replace UNRWA, pointing to its services, including “the administration of emergency shelters, schools, and health centers.”
Israel has waged war against UNWRA over the past year, killing over 200 of its staff members in Gaza. Israel has claimed a significant number of UNWRA’s staff are members of Hamas but has offered no evidence for the allegations, which have been strongly rejected by the UN agency.
The Israeli Knesset passed the bills to ban UNRWA as the number of aid deliveries into Gaza was at its lowest point yet. In early October, Israel imposed a starvation blockade on northern Gaza as part of its efforts to carry out an ethnic cleansing campaign known as the “general’s plan.”
