Israel Bans United Nations Relief Agency UNRWA
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted Monday for legislation banning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA), which services Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank.
The UNRWA was outlawed several months after an internal U.N. investigation concluded that nine employees “may have been involved” in the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel of some 1,200 people.
The vote passed 92-10 and followed a fiery debate between supporters of the law and its opponents, primarily members of Arab parliamentary parties.
A second bill severing diplomatic ties with UNRWA was also being voted on later Monday.
Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee chairman MK Yuli Edelstein said both bills were needed as UNWRA’s operations “eternalized” the issue of Palestinian refugees.
He mentioned that the U.N. agency has provided aid and assistance across Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees for more than seven decades.
BANNING UNWRA
Edelstein said banning UNWRA was also not necessary as “employees had participated in, and even served as commanders, in the October 7 Hamas massacre.”
Additionally, Edelstein mentioned “incitement in UNWRA school curriculums.” He said, “The time had come to ban the agency from Israel.”
Yet critics say the legislation, which won’t take effect immediately, risks collapsing the already “fragile aid distribution process” while Gaza faces a humanitarian crisis.
Israel has denied starving Palestinians but says Hamas is stealing aid and selling goods at high prices.
However, the U.N. says hundreds of its workers were killed in Israeli strikes hitting Gaza.
It was unclear how many had ties to Hamas. However, Israel says it targets Iran’s proxies, including Hamas.
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