Israel Bans UNRWA, Gaza’s Lifeline: Latest Move in Ongoing Campaign Against the Palestinian People and Their Right of Return
On 28 October 2024, the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) nearly unanimously passed two laws explicitly designed to disrupt the operations and essential services of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) throughout the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). Al Mezan, Al-Haq, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) assert that this is the latest escalation of Israel’s calculated, decades-long campaign to dismantle UNRWA and undermine the inalienable right of return of the Palestinian people. Now more than ever, amid Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, UNRWA’s role is not only essential but irreplaceable.
Under the adopted legislation, Israel is prohibiting UNRWA from operating any representation, providing any services, or conducting any activities in what is referred to as “the sovereign territory of the State of Israel.” The legislation also terminates the 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA with immediate effect. The remaining provisions, including the ban on UNRWA’s operations, will go into effect three months after the passing of the laws—approximately by the end of January 2025.
If implemented, the two adopted laws would result in the closure of UNRWA`s headquarters in unlawfully occupied and illegally annexed eastern Jerusalem, where operations across the entire OPT are managed. This would also effectively end all UNRWA services and activities in eastern Jerusalem. The laws further prohibit Israeli authorities from maintaining any contact with UNRWA or its representatives. As a result, 2.4 million Palestinian refugees across the OPT will be deprived of essential services—particularly education and healthcare—that only UNRWA has the mandate and capacity to deliver.
As the primary Agency providing critical, life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the passage of these laws about UNRWA is an assault on the survival of Palestinians and aligns with a broader pattern of Israel’s genocidal intent. Since October 2023, UNRWA has been the lifeline for over two million Palestinians—70% of whom are registered refugees. With winter approaching and the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) assessment warning of a persistent risk of famine across all of Gaza, the lives of two million Palestinians are already in grave danger. The disruption of UNRWA’s operation would have devastating consequences and inevitably contribute to imposing conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza.
Issam Younis, Al Mezan’s General Director, commented: “Impeding UNRWA operations poses a direct threat to the lives of two million Palestinians in Gaza. During the past year, UNRWA has been the cornerstone of humanitarian support in Gaza, providing essential healthcare, food, and emergency relief, crucial for the physical survival of Gaza’s population. These laws are more than just an assault on Gaza’s humanitarian lifeline—it is an attack on the Palestinian right to return. By dismantling the Agency that has supported millions of Palestinian refugees since the beginning of our forced exile, Israel aims to undermine the internationally recognized right to return to our ancestral homes and lands, and weaken the collective identity and right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.”
Over the past year, Israel has carried out smear and defunding campaigns against UNRWA and its staff. This effort has been further reinforced by the temporary suspension of funding by Israel’s closest allies, which has severely undermined UNRWA`s ability to operate effectively. In parallel to these campaigns, Israel has repeatedly targeted UNRWA staff and facilities in Gaza, killing 233 staff members, damaging or destroying over 200 premises—including schools that were being used as shelters for internally displaced Palestinians—and arresting several UNRWA staff members. Israeli land authorities are also reportedly planning to confiscate UNRWA headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah, in occupied Jerusalem, to establish illegal settlement units.
Shawan Jabarin, Al-Haq’s General Director, noted: “UNRWA stands as a reminder of the international community’s unwillingness to address the root causes of the Palestinian struggle; Zionist settler-colonialism. This same unwillingness has created unchecked impunity, emboldening Israel to continue with its ongoing genocide and take this unprecedented and dangerous action against a UN General Assembly-mandated agency. If states are genuinely committed to their words of condemnation, they must take decisive action, including the suspension of Israel from the UN General Assembly.”
At the heart of Israel’s prolonged campaign to dismantle UNRWA lies a fundamental issue: the Palestinian right to return, set out in UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948. Since 1950, UNRWA has served as a vital support system for millions of Palestinian refugees forced for generations to live in refugee camps across the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and Gaza, as well as in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan—refugees to whom Israel has consistently denied their inalienable right of return to their ancestral homes and lands, which is integral to its Zionist settler-colonial project.
By adopting these laws, Israel has breached the UN Charter (Article 105) and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, setting yet another dangerous precedent in the post-WWII multilateral world and the history of the UN.
These laws have also been adopted in complete defiance of UN Security Council 2730 of 24 May 2024, which called on “all States to respect and protect humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, including national and locally recruited personnel”. By obstructing UNRWA`s operations, Israel is also breaching the provisional measures orders issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case regarding the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).
Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR, said: “The decision by the Knesset is further proof that the responsibility for the ongoing genocide is not limited to senior officials of the Israeli government and the military, but that Israel, with all its organs, including the legislature, all have the intent to destroy the lives of Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli law-makers have passed this inhumane legislation with full knowledge of UNRWA`s critical role in alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian population in Gaza, who have been enduring the scourge of genocide for 391 days. Failure by States to take action to pressure Israel to repeal the legislation will only deepen their complicity in the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and undermine the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice.”
As we hear the words of condemnation sparked by the Knesset’s adoption of the two laws, we reiterate that global outrage must be transformed into effective, immediate, and practical measures to compel Israel to comply with its legal obligations, including by imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions and a two-way arms embargo on Israel, as well as continuous support, including financial, to UNRWA.
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