By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Israel has formally ended a decades-old cooperation settlement with the United Nations Palestinian aid company (UNRWA) that coated the safety, motion and diplomatic immunity of the company in Israel, the West Financial institution and the Gaza Strip.
Israel notified the U.N. in a letter on Sunday, as required by a brand new legislation adopted by Israel’s parliament that can ban UNRWA’s operations in Israel and stop Israeli officers from cooperating with it when the legislation takes impact in late January.
The top of the 1967 settlement, nevertheless, is speedy. U.N. attorneys are learning the letter, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric informed reporters on Monday, including that: “UNRWA is continuing to operate today.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for years known as for UNRWA to be dismantled, accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement.
UNRWA says the brand new legislation leaves its operations within the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution and Gaza prone to collapse. Prime U.N. officers and the Safety Council describe UNRWA because the spine of the humanitarian response in Gaza, the place Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas have been at conflict for the previous yr.
“There is no alternative to UNRWA,” Dujarric mentioned.
The USA opposed the Israeli laws on UNRWA and was learning the Israeli letter to the U.N. to study what the implications could be, State Division spokesperson Matthew Miller mentioned on Monday.
The quantity of help coming into Gaza has plummeted to its lowest stage all yr, in line with U.N. information. A worldwide starvation monitor has warned of looming famine, and the U.N. has repeatedly accused Israel of hindering and blocking makes an attempt to ship help, significantly to Gaza’s north.
ISRAEL ACCUSATIONS
UNRWA was established in 1949 following the conflict surrounding the founding of Israel, when 700,000 Palestinians fled or have been pushed from their houses. It offers help, well being and training to five.9 million descendants of these refugees in Gaza, the West Financial institution and in neighbouring Arab international locations.
The brand new Israeli legislation doesn’t instantly ban UNRWA’s operations within the West Financial institution and Gaza, each thought of by worldwide legislation to be exterior the state of Israel, however below Israeli occupation. Nevertheless, it can severely influence UNRWA’s means to work.
UNRWA director of communications Juliette Touma mentioned the onus was on U.N. member states to discover a option to get Israel to not implement the legislation, calling it “a race against time.”
Israel has accused UNRWA workers of involvement within the Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Hamas militants on Israel, which sparked the conflict in Gaza. The U.N. mentioned in August that 9 UNRWA workers could have been concerned within the Hamas assault and had been fired. Later, a Hamas commander in Lebanon – killed in September by Israel – was discovered to have had an UNRWA job.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon mentioned in a press release on Sunday that regardless of the overwhelming proof “we submitted to the U.N. highlighting how Hamas infiltrated UNRWA, the U.N. did nothing to address this reality.”
Touma mentioned that along with the U.N. investigation, UNRWA obtained one formal accusation from Israeli authorities, alleging 100 of its workers have been in Palestinian armed teams. UNRWA sought data and cooperation from Israel concerning the allegations and had not obtained a response, she mentioned.
