What is the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has banned?

What is the UNRWA, and what relation does it play?

The UNRWA was established successful 1949 to supply assistance to astir 700,000 Palestinians who were forced to permission their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

UNRWA began operations connected May 1, 1950. It operates successful Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, arsenic good arsenic successful Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan — wherever Palestinian refugees took structure aft their expulsion.

According to the UNRWA’s website, it runs education, health, alleviation and societal services, microfinance and exigency assistance programmes wrong and extracurricular exile camps successful these areas.

UN workers preparing assistance from the UNRWA office successful Gaza strip. (AP Photo)

An estimated 5.9 cardinal Palestinian refugees — astir of whom are descendants of the archetypal refugees — presently entree the UNRWA’s services.

The UN bureau is funded mostly by voluntary contributions from donor states specified arsenic the United States, Germany, the European Union, etc. It besides gets a constricted subsidy from the UN, which is utilized lone for administrative costs.

UNRWA employs immoderate 30,000 Palestinians. More than 200 of its unit members person been killed successful Israeli attacks implicit the past year.

So wherefore has Israel acted against the UNRWA?

Israel has argued for decades that the UNRWA’s relation is obsolete, and its enactment to assistance Palestinian refugees and their descendants has been an impediment to a bid settlement. However, critics person blamed Israel’s ain actions, specified arsenic not meaningfully recognising the instauration of a Palestinian state, arsenic having perpetuated the longstanding territorial conflict.

Israel has besides accused immoderate of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees successful Gaza of participating successful the October 7, 2023 attacks connected Israel by Hamas that triggered the war. Israel has fixed the US a dossier identifying 12 UNRWA staffers who it says took portion successful the October 7 attacks. According to Israel, astir of these alleged attackers worked arsenic teachers successful UNRWA schools. It claims to person grounds that UNRWA employed 190 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants.

Although UNRWA fired 9 employees aft an investigation, it has denied that it immunodeficiency equipped groups connected intent — the bureau has been sharing the database of its employees with Israel for a agelong time.

What are the 2 Bills that Israel has passed?

One of the Bills bars UNRWA from operating immoderate typical office, providing immoderate service, oregon conducting immoderate activity, straight oregon indirectly, successful Israel’s sovereign territory.

The 2nd Bill cuts each ties betwixt authorities employees and UNRWA, and takes distant the ineligible immunities of the agency’s staff.

Together, the Bills are apt to halt UNRWA from operating successful Gaza and the West Bank arsenic Israel controls entree to some these Palestinian territories. They could besides unit the bureau to relocate its office from East Jerusalem, according to a study by the Associated Press.

The Bills were passed by overwhelming majorities successful the 120-member parliament. Lawmakers from astatine slightest 2 centrist parties joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling conjugation successful voting for the Bills, demonstrating wide enactment for the measures.

What tin beryllium the interaction of these measures?

Most of the provisions successful the Bills volition instrumentality effect aft 3 months.

Since the opening of the war, astir each of Gaza’s 2 cardinal radical person been reliant connected UNRWA for basal necessities, including food, water, and hygiene supplies.

Along with the Palestinian Red Crescent, UNRWA handles astir each UN assistance organisation successful the territory.

The UN bureau besides precocious helped instrumentality an exigency polio vaccination run successful Gaza to forestall the infectious microorganism that tin origin paralysis from spreading.

In the West Bank, UNRWA presently provides services for 19 exile camps, much than 90 schools, and respective wellness services, including prenatal care, according to a study by CNN.

In a station connected X, UNRWA main Philippe Lazzarini said connected Monday that the prohibition acceptable “a unsafe precedent” and would “only deepen the suffering of Palestinians”.

“This is the latest successful the ongoing run to discredit UNRWA,” Lazzarini said.