Israel tells UN it is cutting ties with Palestinian aid agency

OCCUPIED JESRUALEM — Israel said Monday it had formally notified the United Nations of its decision to sever ties with UNRWA, the agency supporting Palestinian refugees, after lawmakers voted to ban the organisation.

"On the instruction of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, the ministry of foreign affairs notified the UN of the cancellation of the agreement between the State of Israel and UNRWA," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"UNRWA, the organisation whose employees participated in the October 7 massacre and many of whose employees are Hamas operatives, is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution," Katz was quoted as saying.

Israel's parliament last month approved a proposal to shut down UNRWA's operations in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, despite condemnation from the international community, including its ally the United States.

The ban on the UN agency -- which has provided essential aid and assistance across Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades -- would be a blow to humanitarian work in Gaza if implemented, according to experts.

But Katz dismissed the argument, saying only a part of aid was being delivered into Gaza by UNRWA.

"The State of Israel is committed to international law and will continue to facilitate the entrance of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in a manner that does not harm the security of the citizens of Israel," Katz said.

In January, Israel accused a dozen of UNRWA's Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, which sparked the deadliest war in the territory.

A series of probes found some "neutrality related issues" at UNRWA, and determined that nine employees "may have been involved" in the October 7 attack, but found no evidence for Israel's central allegations.

The ban has also raised fears UNRWA employees in the occupied West Bank could potentially face problems moving from one place to another as well as accessing east Jerusalem or Israel because they would lose their ability to coordinate with the Israeli authorities to cross checkpoints. 

The same fears apply to visas and permits delivered by Israeli authorities. 

UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies have accused Israeli authorities of restricting aid flows into Gaza, where almost all the territory's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war.