Palestinians seen outside a healthcare clinic of the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on Oct 31, 2024. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90
The Israeli Foreign Ministry notified the United Nations on Monday that, under the direction of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, it is canceling the provisional agreement between the State of Israel and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), originally signed in 1967.
The agreement served as the legal basis for relations between the State of Israel and UNRWA following Israel’s capture of the Palestinian Territories during the Six-Day War.
The announcement followed the Knesset’s approval of a bill to halt UNRWA activities in Israel. The bill was proposed in July and approved last week with the support of almost all the opposition parties.
The announcement (translated from Hebrew) read: “In accordance with the provisions of section 1(b) of the Termination of UNRWA Law, 5775-2024, Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed Foreign Ministry Director General Yaakov Blitstein to notify the UN today of the cancellation of the 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA. This agreement constituted the legal basis for relations between the State of Israel and UNRWA.”
UNRWA has long been criticized by Israel and several Western politicians for its affiliation and cooperation with the Hamas terrorist organization. However, since the start of the Gaza War, it has come under increased scrutiny, as multiple workers of the organization were found to have been directly in terror activities, the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas invasion and terror attack in southern Israel.
Katz said, “UNRWA – the organization whose employees participated in the October 7 massacre and many of whose employees are Hamas operatives – is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution.”
He continued, “The UN was presented with innumerable evidence about Hamas operatives working at UNRWA and about the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorist purposes, and nothing was done about it. Moreover, UNRWA chose not to apply even the recommendations of the UN itself, written in the Colonna report.”
Katz also rejected claims that UNRWA is “indispensable” for humanitarian aid operations in the Gaza Strip.
“Don’t believe those who tell you that there is no substitute for UNRWA,” Katz stated. “The vast majority of humanitarian aid is already transferred through other organizations, and only 13 percent of it goes through UNRWA. The State of Israel is bound by international law and will continue to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in a way that will not harm the security of Israeli citizens.”
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon posted the announcement to 𝕏, saying that despite Israel trying to work with the world body, “the UN did nothing to rectify the situation.”
Following the legislation on UNRWA, the State of Israel officially notified the President of the General Assembly of the termination of cooperation with the agency. Despite the overwhelming evidence we submitted to the UN that substantiate Hamas’ infiltration of UNRWA, the UN did… pic.twitter.com/UUti6zZrOT
— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) November 4, 2024
According to the Foreign Ministry’s announcement, Israel had provided the UN with a wide range of evidence on the subject, including a list of 100 Hamas operatives from the military wing who worked for UNRWA as early as last July but that UNRWA took almost no action against them.
In September, the UN agency attempted to request immunity for several of its staff who appeared on the list.
Last week, a UNRWA employee who appeared on the list, and participated in the massacre in at Kibbutz Re’im, Muhammed Abu al-Atiwi, was killed in an IDF operation. UN Sec.-Gen. António Guterres expressed his sorrow for the death of al-Atiwi on social media, without mentioning his name.
Guterres wrote, “And in the central Gaza Strip, a strike took the life of yet another one of our UNRWA colleagues.”
Following Knesset law, the legislation regarding UNRWA takes effect in about three months. Until then, Israel will expand its cooperation with other international organizations to ensure that humanitarian aid will continue to enter Gaza in accordance with international law.
