Israel passed a law on Monday banning the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in the country – legislation that could impact its work in the war-torn country. Gaza.

The politicians who wrote the law cited the involvement of some staff members of the The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) during the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 and against certain members of its staff Hamas and other armed groups.

The Tánaiste and Foreign Minister Micheál Martin “strongly condemned” the decision. “Such a move would be unacceptable and would have serious consequences for the Palestinians. The international community must oppose this,” he said.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said the decision was “disastrous and shameful”.

“This will go down in history as the moment Israel voted to cut an irreplaceable humanitarian pipeline to a humanitarian disaster zone,” he said.

The legislation has alarmed the United Nations and some of Israel’s Western allies, who fear it will further worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting Hamas militants for more than a year. The ban does not refer to operations in the Palestinian territories or elsewhere. UNRWA employs tens of thousands of workers and provides education, health and aid services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

It has long had tense relations with Israel, but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the Gaza war and Israel has repeatedly called for the dissolution of UNRWA and the transfer of its responsibilities to other security agencies. the UN. The UN said in August that nine UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 assault and was fired. A Hamas commander in Lebanon, killed last month in an Israeli strike, had a job at UNRWA. Another commander killed in Gaza last week was also an aid worker.

“If the United Nations is not going to rid this organization of terrorism and Hamas militants, then we must take steps to ensure that they can never harm our people again,” said Israeli politician Sharren Haskel.

“The international community could have taken responsibility and ensured that they used the appropriate organizations to facilitate humanitarian aid, such as the World Food Organization, Unicef ​​and many others working everywhere in the world,” Ms. Haskel said.

A UNRWA spokesperson said before the vote that the proposed law would be a “disaster” and would have a serious impact on humanitarian operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“We know that previous attempts to replace UNRWA and provide humanitarian aid have failed miserably,” said Juliette Touma, the organization’s main spokesperson.

( Faced with Israeli pressure to dismantle it, UNRWA is essential to the PalestiniansOpens in a new window )

“It is scandalous that a UN member state would seek to dismantle a UN agency that also happens to be the main player in the humanitarian operation in Gaza.”

The law would likely have a direct impact on UNRWA institutions in East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognized abroad.

Another author of the law, Boaz Bismuth, said UNRWA’s work there had been counterproductive for years. “If you really want stability, if you really want security, if you want real peace in the Middle East, organizations like UNRWA will not get you there,” Mr. Bismuth said. Israel has faced strong international pressure to do more to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to provide more aid to those displaced by the Israeli campaign.

Before the legislation was passed, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Australia issued a statement expressing “grave concern.”

“It is crucial that UNRWA and other United Nations organizations and agencies are fully able to provide humanitarian aid and assistance to those who need it most, effectively fulfilling their mandate,” the statement said. -Reuters