The United States has criticised an Israeli bill that would declare the UN agency for Palestinian refugees a terrorist organisation, saying that such efforts are “incredibly unhelpful”, AFP reports.

“UNRWA is not a terrorist organisation, and we urge the Israeli government and the Knesset to halt the movement of this legislation,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

He added that “the attacks that the Israeli government has levelled on UNRWA are incredibly unhelpful. They do nothing to advance the cause of getting humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.”

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Monday gave preliminary approval to a bill that designates UNRWA as a terrorist organisation and proposes severing all ties with the humanitarian agency. After passing its first reading, the legislation will go to a parliamentary committee for further deliberation.

The United States suspended its financial contributions to the agency after separate unproven Israeli allegations were made that some UNRWA staff were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks. Since then, US lawmakers have prohibited Washington from releasing funds to the agency.