A ban preventing UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, from operating in Occupied East Jerusalem and Israel has come into effect, impacting the organisation’s life-saving work in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The highly controversial move came into force after the Israeli Parliament voted in favour three months ago, and after a legal challenge to pause the ban was rejected by the Israeli Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Israel accuses UNRWA of having close links to Hamas in Gaza, which the organisation denies.
Nine UNRWA employees were sacked for taking part in the 7 October attacks.
Many donor countries initially suspended funding but most, including the UK, have since reinstated it.
“UNRWA equals Hamas,” an Israeli government spokesman said yesterday. “Israel has made public irrefutable evidence UNRWA is riddled with Hamas operatives.”
No evidence has been presented of those links existing in Jerusalem or the West Bank.
Following the vote to ban UNRWA, the Head of the World Food Programme Cindy McCain described the agency as “indispensable” and tweeted that “the decision will have devastating consequences on food security.”
UNRWA, which was established following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, provides medical services to at least 70,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem and runs schools for thousands of pupils as well as maintaining streets and carrying out waste disposal.
Israel says those pupils will now be transferred to municipality schools but UNRWA says there has been little to no coordination around who will replace other services.
