UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday “strongly warned against any attempts to dismantle or diminish” the operations and mandate of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA after Israel passed a law banning its operations.

In a statement adopted by consensus, the 15-member body expressed grave concern over the legislation adopted by the Israeli parliament on Monday, which is due to come into effect in 90 days and has sparked international condemnation.

The council urged Israel “to abide by its international obligations, respect the privileges and immunities of UNRWA and live up to its responsibility to allow and facilitate full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip.”

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said Israel’s ban on UNRWA, if implemented, would violate international law, the founding UN Charter and a 1946 UN convention on the diplomatic privileges and immunities granted to UN operations.

Agency says no other organisation can replace its ability to serve Palestinians

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini warned that the organisation’s aid operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip were now at risk of collapse because of the new law.

The Security Council “underscored that UNRWA remains the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza” and and said that no other organisation can replace UNRWA’s ability to serve Palestinians in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance.

The move by Israel comes as the amount of aid entering Gaza has plummeted to its lowest level all year, according to UN data. A global hunger monitor has warned of a looming famine, and the UN has repeatedly accused Israel of hindering and blocking attempts to deliver aid, particularly to Gaza’s north.

Israel began a wide military offensive in northern Gaza earlier this month. The United States has said it was watching to ensure that its ally’s actions on the ground show it does not have a “policy of starvation” in the north.

UNRWA provides education, health and other aid 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 conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in Oct 2023.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2024