Israel jeopardising ‘any prospect of peace’: UNRWA chief

Implementation of Israel’s ban on the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA will be disastrous, the aid agency’s chief told the Security Council on Tuesday, saying Israel’s actions jeopardise “any prospect of peace”.

The ban is set to come into force after months of an intensified Israeli campaign against UNRWA, which it has claimed supports terrorism without providing evidence.

“In two days, our operations in the occupied Palestinian territory will be crippled,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told the 15-member Security Council. “Full implementation of the Knesset legislation will be disastrous.”

Lazzarini also slammed Israel’s “propaganda” campaign against UNRWA, which has seen Tel Aviv invest in billboards in major cities and Google Ads.

“The absurdity of anti-UNRWA propaganda does not diminish the threat it poses to our staff, especially those in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza – where 273 of our colleagues have been killed,” he said.

At the UN, Israel vowed to push ahead with the controversial ban.

“UNRWA must cease its operations and evacuate all premises it operates in Jerusalem, including the properties located in Maalot Dafna and Kafr Aqab,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the council.

“Israel will terminate all collaboration, communication and contact with UNRWA or anyone acting on its behalf,” he said.

UNRWA said operations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank will also suffer. It provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

‘Irresponsible’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council have described UNRWA as the backbone of the humanitarian aid response in Gaza, which has been decimated by 15 months of Israel’s war on the enclave.

The United States, under new President Donald Trump, supports what it called Israel’s “sovereign right” to close UNRWA’s offices in occupied east Jerusalem, acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the Security Council.

Under Trump predecessor Joe Biden, the United States provided military support for Israel’s war, but urged Israel to pause implementation of the law against UNRWA.

“UNRWA exaggerating the effects of the laws and suggesting that they will force the entire humanitarian response to halt is irresponsible and dangerous,” Shea said.

“What is needed is a nuanced discussion about how we can ensure that there is no interruption in the delivery of humanitarian aid and essential services,” she said.

“UNRWA is not and never has been the only option for providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza,” she said.

Other agencies working in Gaza and the West Bank include the children’s organization UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and the U.N. Development Programme.

Who fills the gap?

But the UN has repeatedly said there is no alternative to UNRWA and that it would be Israel’s responsibility to replace its services. Israel, whose creation in 1948 was preceded by the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland, rejected that it was responsible for replacing UNRWA’s services.

“Since October 2023, we have delivered two-thirds of all food assistance, provided shelter to over a million displaced persons and vaccinated a quarter of a million children against polio,” Lazzarini told the Security Council.

“Since the ceasefire began, UNRWA has brought in 60% of the food entering Gaza, reaching more than half a million people. We conduct some 17,000 medical consultations every day,” he said.

Israel has long been critical of UNRWA, claiming that the agency’s staff took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. The UN has said nine UNRWA staff may have been involved and were fired. 

The UN has vowed to investigate all accusations repeatedly asked Israel for evidence, which it says has not been provided. Lazzarini also said on Tuesday that UNRWA has been the target of a “fierce disinformation campaign” to “portray the agency as a terrorist organization”.

Agencies contributed to this report.

(Reuters)