Israel bans UN Palestinian aid agency from operating in its country

Israeli lawmakers on Monday passed a law that bans the Palestinian aid organization United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating in the country.

The law comes over a year after Israel was attacked by the terrorist organization of Hamas. The United Nations in August found that nine of the UNRWA employees were members of Hamas and contributed to the Oct. 7 attack. Those employees were subsequently fired, but two Hamas leaders were also identified as doubling as aid workers, per Reuters.

Critics of the legislation claim that the new law would greatly impact humanitarian efforts inside of Gaza. But supporters of the law have pushed the UN to divide the UNRWA's responsibilities up into other U.N. agencies.

"If the United Nations is not willing to clean this organization from terrorism, from Hamas activists, then we have to take measures to make sure that they cannot harm our people ever again," Israeli lawmaker Sharren Haskel said in a statement. 

"The international community could have taken responsibility and made sure that they used the proper organizations to facilitate humanitarian aid, like the World Food Organization, like UNICEF, and many others who work all around the world," she added.

The organization provides education, health. and other aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

UNRWA Commissioner General Phillippe Lazzarini slammed the order in a social media post, stating that it "sets a dangerous precedent," and is part of an ongoing effort to "discredit UNRWA" and "delegitimize its role." 

"These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell," Lazzarini said. "These bills increase the suffering of the Palestinians & are nothing less than collective punishment. 

"Putting an end to UNRWA & its services will not strip the Palestinians from their refugee status," he continued. "That status is protected by another UN General Assembly resolution until a fair and lasting solution is found to the plight of the Palestinians. Failing to push back these bills will weaken our common multilateral mechanism established after World War 2. This should be a concern to all."

Foreign ministers from Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, have all expressed "grave concern" over the legislation in a group letter, and claimed that it was "crucial that the UNRWA and other UN organizations and agencies be fully able to deliver humanitarian aid and their assistance to those who need it most."

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.