It is anticipated that the parliament’s vote will significantly limit the humanitarian organization’s operations in Gaza and the West Bank, where Israel controls access.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frequently attacked the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is in charge of more than five million Palestinian refugees, claiming that it has ties to Hamas and other extremist organizations.
The new legislation, which was approved by the Knesset on Monday, revoked the agency’s employees’ legal privileges and prohibited it from having any connections to Israeli officials.
The group was likewise designated a terror organization by the Israeli parliament.
According to the spokesperson for legislator Dan Illouz, one of the bills’ co-sponsors, the law would go into effect 60 to 90 days after Israel’s foreign ministry notifies the UN.
The news rules “could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
In a statement, he stated that UNRWA is the only option. “The resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian problem as well as regional peace and security will suffer from the adoption of these laws. UNRWA is essential, as I have stated.
