An Israeli law, which will come into force later in January, will stop United Nations’ Palestinian relief agency UNRWA from working in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and the UN and Israel are now bickering over who must fill the void in the region.
UNRWA still operates in the Palestinian territories but it is unclear what awaits the nearly 75-year-old agency when the law banning its operation on Israeli land and contact with Israeli authorities takes effect.
Tit-For-Tat Continues
The UN and Israel have been engaged in tit-for-tat letter writing since the law on UNRWA was passed in late October. Shortly after, the UN told Israel it was not the world body’s responsibility to replace UNRWA in the Palestinian territory – Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
In a letter to the UN General Assembly and Security Council late on Thursday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said if UNRWA was forced to stop operating then Israel “would be left to ensure that the range of services and assistance which UNRWA has been providing are provided” in accordance with its obligations under international law.
Guterres wrote that while other UN agencies were prepared to continue providing services and assistance to the Palestinians – to the extent they can – that “must not be viewed as releasing Israel from its obligations”.
The United Nations views Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as Israeli-occupied territory. International law requires an occupying power to agree to and facilitate relief programs and ensure food, medical care, hygiene and public health standards.
In a December 18 letter to the world body, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said the new legislation “does not in any way undermine Israel’s steadfast commitment to international law”. He also rejected UN claims that Israel would be responsible for filling any gap left by UNRWA in the Gaza strip.
He wrote that Israel does not exercise effective control over Gaza and therefore is not an occupying power, adding that the law of military occupation also does not apply. He said that in the West Bank the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority for civilian affairs “must not be overlooked”.
“In Jerusalem, all residents are entitled to government and municipal services under Israeli law,” said Danon, adding that included health and education services. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognized abroad.
US Wades In
Israel has long been critical of UNRWA. It says UNRWA staff took part in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The UN has said nine UNRWA staff may have been involved and were fired. A Hamas commander in Lebanon – killed in September by Israel – was also found to have had an UNRWA job.
The United States has said its ally Israel must ensure the new law does not further impede aid deliveries and critical services, including by UNRWA, in Gaza, which has been engulfed in a humanitarian crisis during the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
But it has also questioned UN contingency planning.
State Department officials met this week with the transition team of incoming US President Donald Trump – who takes office on January 20 – and raised concerns about how the crisis in Gaza could deepen once the UNRWA law is implemented, said a US official.
Israel Denies UNRWA’s Irreplaceability
UNRWA, established by the UN General Assembly, provides aid, health and education services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and neighboring Arab countries – Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Guterres said UNRWA’s unique role could not be replaced. UN officials say it is the health, education and social services UNRWA provides in the Palestinian territory that would suffer most as other agencies cannot match its ability to deliver such help.
Danon argued that “replacing UNRWA with relief schemes that will adequately provide essential assistance to Palestinian civilians is not at all impossible”, citing the aid operation in Gaza where he said other UN agencies were equipped to provide the necessary response “as they do elsewhere in the world”.
Other agencies working in Gaza and the West Bank include the children’s organization UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, and the UN Development Programme. But top UN officials and the Security Council describe UNRWA as the backbone of the current humanitarian operation in Gaza.
Israel launched an assault on Hamas in Gaza after the militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times. Food experts warn of a looming famine.
(With inputs from Reuters)
