‘Outrageous’, ‘intolerable’, ‘dangerous precedent’ – world condemns Israel’s UNRWA ban

Asia Pacific Report

The United Nations and countries across the globe have denounced Israel after its Parliament — the Knesset — overwhelmingly passed two laws that brands the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) ¹ as a “terror” group and bans the humanitarian organisation from operating on Israeli soil.

The legislation, approved yesterday, would — if implemented — take effect in three months, preventing UNRWA from providing life-saving support to Palestinians across Israeli-occupied Gaza and the West Bank.

Reaction ranged from “intolerable”, “dangerous precedent”, “outrageous” and appeared to be setting Tel Aviv on a collision course with the United Nations and the foundation 1945 UN Charter itself ² .

• READ MORE: Israeli attack on northern Gaza kills at least 77, dozens missing ³
• What is UNRWA and why is it important for Palestinians? ⁴
• Other War on Gaza reports ⁵

Australia was among states condemning the legislation, calling on Israel “to comply with the binding orders of the [International Court of Justice] to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale in Gaza”. There was no immediate response from New Zealand.

The condemnation came as an Israeli air strike destroyed a five-storey residential building sheltering displaced families in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, killing at least 65 Palestinians and wounding dozens.

Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said dozens of wounded people had arrived at the facility and urged all surgeons to return there to treat them.

Many of the wounded may die because of the lack of resources at the hospital, he told Al Jazeera ⁶ .

World ‘must take action’
“The world must take action and not just watch the genocide in the Gaza Strip,” he added.

“We call on the world to send specialised medical delegations to treat dozens of wounded people in the hospital.”

A Middle East affairs analyst warned that the “significant starvation and death” in northern Gaza was because the the international community had been unable “to put pressure on the Israelis”.

“The Israelis have been left to their own devices and are pursuing this campaign of ethnic cleansing [including] starvation — there’s no clean water, even this building that was bombed right now the medics are not allowed to go and save people . . .  this is by design collective punishment,” said Adel Abdel Ghafar, of the Middle East Council on Global Affairs.

Ghafar told Al Jazeera in an interview ⁷ that Israeli tactics were also designed to push out the population in northern Gaza and create “some sort of military buffer zone”.

On the UNRWA ban, Ghafar said that to Israel, the UN agency “perpetuates Palestinians staying [in Gaza] because it provides food, education, facilities . . . the Israelis have had UNRWA in their targets from day one”.

39 strikes on Gaza shelters
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said Israel’s military had attacked shelter centres in the Gaza Strip 39 times so far this month in a bid to “displace Palestinians and empty Gaza”.

The assaults have killed 188 people and wounded hundreds more, it said.

The Geneva-based group said Israel had targeted schools, hospitals, clinics and shelter centres in Gaza 65 times since the beginning of August.

Why is Israel really trying to close a UN agency that feeds Palestinians? (And what even is UNRWA?) pic.twitter.com/69vm6JtLqQ ⁸

— AJ+ (@ajplus) October 28, 2024 ⁹

In other international community reaction ¹⁰ over the Israeli law banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees ¹¹ :

• The Palestinian presidency rejected the move, saying the vote of the Knesset reflected Israel’s transformation into “a fascist state”.
• Hamas said it considered the bill a “part of the Zionist war and aggression against our people”.
• UN chief Antonio Guterres called UNRWA’s work “indispensable” and said there was “no alternative” to the agency.
• Chinese envoy to the UN, Fu Cong, called the Israeli move “outrageous”, adding that his country was “firmly opposed to this decision”.
• Russia described Israel’s UNRWA ban as “terrible” and said it worsened the situation in Gaza.
• The UK expressed grave concern and said the Israeli legislation “risks making UNRWA’s essential work for Palestinians impossible”.
• Jordan said it “strongly condemns” the Israeli move, describing it as a “flagrant violation of international law and the obligations of Israel as the occupying power”.
• Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain — all four countries have recognised the Palestinan state — said the move set a “very serious precedent for the work of the UN” and for all organisations in the multilateral system.
• Australia said UNRWA does life-saving work and Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in an X posting her government opposed the Israeli decision to “severely restrict” the agency’s operations. She called on Israel “to comply with the binding orders of the [International Court of Justice] to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale in Gaza”.
• Switzerland said it was “concerned about the humanitarian, political and legal implications” of the Israeli laws banning cooperation with UNRWA.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report ¹² and was authored by APR editor.