Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has voted to ban UNRWA from Israel within 90 days. In a 92-10 vote on Monday 28 October 2024, the Knesset banned the agency, which operates in Israel according to a 1967 treaty, from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel, including the areas of annexed and illegally occupied East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli lawmakers also voted to declare UNRWA a “terrorist” group, which has the effect of outlawing any direct interaction between the UN agency and the Israeli state.

The law is meant to lead to the closure of UNRWA’s East Jerusalem headquarters and would in practice block the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza via Rafah. The severing of diplomatic relations would preclude Israel from issuing entry and work permits to foreign UNRWA staff and prevent coordination with the Israeli military to permit aid shipments. More than 1.9 million Palestinians are displaced and the Gaza Strip faces widespread shortages of food, water and medicine.

The relentless attacks against the United Nations, and, in particular, UNRWA, threaten the lives of millions of Palestinian refugees across the broader region. Israel launched an unsubstantiated campaign against UNRWA, which jeopardized the fragile lifelines necessary for humanitarian assistance in Gaza. This attack must be understood within Israel’s genocidal assault aimed at destroying the Palestinian people as a group. The UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine had recently recommended to ‘Ensure unhindered humanitarian assistance to Gaza and full financing and protection of UNRWA, including from attacks on its premises and personnel and from libellous smear campaigns, and ensure the continuity of its mandate in all fields.’

The Palestinian Return Centre calls on Israel’s major allies, including the US, UK, France and Germany, who had opposed the banning of UNRWA to impose sanctions, principally an arms embargo, on Israel until it reverts this latest attack on Palestinians. The PRC calls on all donors to UNRWA to actively protest this decision and take all available measures to pressure Israel against implement the ban. Failure to do so would lead to an acceleration of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.