The Knesset is set to hold a preliminary vote designating the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization, by which it will then sever all ties with the body that is the main relief service provider for 5.9 Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.
“The purpose of this bill is to declare UNRWA as a terrorist organization for all intents and purposes as well as order the termination of the relations [and the cooperation] of the State of Israel with the agency, either directly or indirectly,” Israel Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovksy wrote in the introduction to the bill, which she authored.
The legislative push comes as the International Court of Justice and the international community at large have taken Israel to task for not sufficiently ensuring the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Links to Hamas
UNRWA provides services for Palestinians in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan as well as for 1,476,706 refugees in Gaza and another 871,537 in the West Bank.
Only those latter 2.34 million Palestinians would be impacted by the Knesset vote. The bill, if approved by a preliminary vote, would still have to pass a first, second, and third reading.
The long-held desire by the Israeli Right to shut UNRWA down has been strengthened by the Gaza war, which has highlighted for Israel the link between Hamas and the relief organization – as seen in the way that it operates in Gaza.
Israel has charged that some 12 UNRWA staff members were involved in the kidnapping of Israelis during the October 7 Hamas-led invasion into Israel in which over 1,200 people were killed and another 252 seized as hostages.
It has further alleged that some 190 UNRWA employees have ties to Hamas. In addition, the IDF found instances where Hamas weapons were stored in UNRWA facilities in Gaza.
Malinovksy, whose party is in the opposition, wrote in her explanation of the bill that “at least 12 UNRWA employees were connected to the terrorist attack” on October 7 and “took part in acts of murder [and] kidnapping, including the abduction of bodies, and [gave] orders on behalf of the terrorist organization Hamas.
“About 10% of UNRWA’s staff in the Gaza Strip are connected to terrorist organizations. It was also announced that two teachers from the organization kept Israeli hostages in their home, 130 teachers praised the massacre in public, and 3,000 teachers, on behalf of the organization, glorified the massacre in the Telegram group in response,” she wrote.
“To make matters worse, many countries, including the US, Germany, Canada, Australia, Italy, Great Britain, Finland and Romania have announced their decision to stop funding UNRWA,” she continued.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, the UNRWA agency proved in the October 7 massacre that it is a terrorist organization that it is no different from the terrorist organization Hamas,” she stressed.
Those who supported UNRWA have stressed that it remains the best vehicle for the delivery of aid – such as food, education, and health services – to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
It is able to do so with the financial support of many donors who contribute to an annual budget that is upwards of $1.6 billion.
Should URNWA be unable to provide those services, other funding options and other venues would have to be found to provide those services.
Malinovksy’s bill does not offer alternative options as to how to service the Palestinians. There are also legal issues attached to the bill that have yet to be resolved.