A senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) warned Thursday of severe consequences from two Israeli laws targeting the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) that are set to take effect soon.
The first law, passed in October by Israel’s Knesset, or parliament, bans the UN agency’s operations within Israel. The second revokes a 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA.
Ahmed Abu Holi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said that “implementing these laws could undermine UNRWA’s mandate in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank while eliminating its presence in East Jerusalem.”
“This will deprive millions of refugees of vital services, including education, health care and life-saving emergency aid, leading to a humanitarian collapse in Gaza,” he said in a statement on his Facebook page.
Abu Holi urged UN General Assembly member states and the UN Security Council to take decisive action to pressure Israel to halt enforcement of the laws and counter efforts to dismantle or undermine UNRWA’s mandate.
The refugee agency itself issued a warning last Saturday saying that time was running out before the Israeli ban takes effect at the end of January. This would block the organization from providing services to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to comments by UNRWA’s Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, in an interview with Ireland’s RTE.
The laws, finalized by the Knesset on Oct. 28, will force UNRWA to cease operations in areas under Israeli jurisdiction, shut down its offices, and close any associated bank accounts.
Israeli authorities have alleged that some UNRWA staff were involved in the cross-border attacks on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
UNRWA, established in the aftermath of the 1948 Nakba to assist displaced Palestinian refugees, operates in five regions: Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The agency currently supports approximately 5.9 million Palestinians, according to its data.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed over 46,000 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
In November last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.