UN says aid agency for Palestinians to continue work as Israel cuts ties

By AFP/Callum PATON

The United Nations said Thursday that its aid agency UNRWA would continue working in all Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem, even as Israel cut ties with the organisation.

After Israel accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas, legislation severing ties with the agency came into force on Thursday, a move likely to hamper its vital services after 15 months of war in Gaza.

The agency is banned from operating on Israeli soil, and contact between it and Israeli officials is also forbidden.

But Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres said: "UNRWA clinics across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are open. Meanwhile, the humanitarian operations in Gaza continues, including with UNRWA work there."

UNRWA has provided support for Palestinian refugees around the Middle East for more than 70 years, but has long clashed with Israeli officials, who have repeatedly accused it of undermining the country's security.

The hostility intensified following Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, with accusations that UNRWA employees took part in the assault.

After the law came into effect, the Norwegian government said Thursday it would contribute $24 million to the agency.

"Gaza is in ruins, and UNRWA's help is more necessary than ever," Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said.

'Blatant violation'

Turkey condemned the Israeli move as "a blatant violation of international law", and said it "marks a new phase in Israel's policies of occupation and annexation aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians from their own land".

Israel, however, defended the decision.

"Humanitarian aid doesn't equal UNRWA, and UNRWA doesn't equal humanitarian aid. UNRWA equals an organisation infested with Hamas terror activity," foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein wrote on X ahead of the ban.

The agency's offices and staff in Israel play a major role in the provision of healthcare and education to Palestinians, including those living in Gaza, which has been devastated by the war between Israel and Hamas.

Government spokesman David Mencer said Wednesday that the agency "employs over 1,200 Hamas members, including terrorists who carried out the October 7 massacre", adding that "if a state funds UNRWA, that state is funding terrorists".

Later on Wednesday, Israel's supreme court rejected a petition by Palestinian human rights group Adalah contesting the ban, but noted the legislation only forbade UNRWA operations on "the sovereign territory of the State of Israel", not in Gaza and the West Bank.

The ban does apply, however, to Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, where UNRWA has a field headquarters for its operations in the West Bank.

In response, Adalah said the law would come into effect "disregarding the catastrophic humanitarian consequences".

'Irreplaceable'

The move, which has been backed by Israel's main supporter the United States, has drawn condemnation from aid groups and US allies.

The agency says it has brought in 60 percent of the food aid that has reached Gaza since the war started with Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel.

Israeli envoy to the United Nations Danny Danon told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that UNRWA must cease its operations and evacuate all premises it operates in annexed east Jerusalem on Thursday.

In response, UN chief Antonio Guterres demanded that Israel rescind its order.

"I regret this decision and request that the government of Israel retract it," he said, stressing UNRWA was "irreplaceable".

The agency's chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said UNRWA's capacity to distribute aid "far exceeds that of any other entity".

He called Israel's actions against UNRWA a "relentless assault... harming the lives and future of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory".

Israel alleges a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the 2023 attack, and insists other agencies can step in to provide essential services, aid and reconstruction -- something the UN and many donor governments dispute.

A series of investigations, including one led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some "neutrality-related issues" at UNRWA, but stressed Israel had not provided evidence for its headline allegation.