The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) was created in 1949 to assist Palestinians expelled from their places of origin after the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. Today, the organization It helps almost six million people in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel and in neighboring countries, where refugees have settled for decades.
Their work is essentially humanitarian: offering food, shelter, education and health to Palestinians who have fewer resources and who, currently, continue to live in refugee camps in Palestine or elsewhere. In the Gaza Strip – where the majority of the more than two million inhabitants are displaced from towns that became Israel – UNRWA had been playing a fundamental role long before the war.
Currently, after more than a year of Israeli offensive against Gaza that has caused a deep humanitarian crisis, almost the entire population depends on UNRWA aid to meet their basic needs and hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes. Due to the bombings they have taken refuge in the agency’s facilities.
What will happen to humanitarian aid in Gaza?
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini has warned in a letter to the UN General Assembly that legislation passed by Israel may cause “the collapse of UNRWA operations in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza, and seriously undermine the entire United Nations humanitarian operation in Gaza, which depends on the UNRWA platform.”
Lazzarini has added in that letter that “in the absence of a viable alternative to the agency, the measures [adoptadas por Israel] “They will aggravate the suffering of the Palestinians.”
The Government of Benjamin Netanyahu has assured that, in the 90 days to apply the new laws, it will look for a way to channel humanitarian aid and that it will continue to provide it to Gazans “in a way that does not threaten the security of Israel.”
Last January, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to “urgently provide basic services and humanitarian assistance” to the Gazans, but ten months later the amount of aid entering the Strip is insufficient, as all humanitarian organizations denounce. . Even Israel’s main ally, the United States, recently called on the Israeli government to allow more aid to enter and through more border crossings from its territory.
How has the international community reacted?
Since the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) passed the two laws against UNRWA on Monday, many countries around the world have condemned the new legislation and warned of its consequences, including some of Israel’s staunchest allies and defenders, such as Germany or United Kingdom. At the moment, no one has proposed taking action to ensure that Israel does not apply the laws.
One of the laws prohibits all UNRWA activities on Israeli soil (including the Israeli-annexed eastern part of Jerusalem) and is scheduled to come into force in three months. The other law leaves agency personnel without immunity and prevents Israeli officials and institutions from having any contact with UNRWA.
Both make it impossible for the agency to coordinate with Israel, which is essential to operate in the occupied Palestinian territories, since they are under the control of the Israeli authorities. Without going any further, access to the West Bank and Gaza are controlled by Israel, so any convoy or humanitarian worker must have their permission to enter and work in the two areas.
The body in charge of managing humanitarian aid in Gaza right now and, in general, of communication with UN agencies and NGOs is COGAT (acronym for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories).
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that he will take this matter to the UN General Assembly and keep it informed of developments, also recalling that “national legislation cannot alter Israel’s obligations” under the UN Charter. of the United Nations and International Humanitarian Law.
Who can replace UNRWA?
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has flagged other UN agencies and international organizations to continue providing aid to the Palestinians, such as the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund. (UNICEF). However, those same agencies have said they do not have the capacity to replace UNRWA. The UN Secretary General himself has stated that “there is no alternative to UNRWA.”
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has assured that “the absence of UNRWA from the occupied Palestinian territory, especially Gaza, will be catastrophic.” Its director general, Amy Pope, told a news conference in Geneva that UNRWA has been “the backbone of infrastructure in places like Gaza” and that “there is no way in which IOM can do what UNRWA has done.”
From UNICEF, its spokesperson, James Elder, also warned that if UNRWA cannot operate, “we are likely to see the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza.” Elder explained that his organization distributes aid in Gaza with the support of UNRWA and that, without that support, it will not be able to bring vaccines, nutritional supplements, hygiene kits or winter clothing to the children who need them.
World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Tarik Jašarević admitted that no agency can match UNRWA in providing medical assistance, as UNRWA has about 3,000 health workers in Gaza – out of a total of 13,000. employees in the Strip.
How does Israel justify the measure?
Even before the war in Gaza, Israel frowned upon UNRWA, an agency that represents Palestinian refugees and their right of return, recognized by UN resolutions. Lazzarini has made clear that Israel’s move “does not end the refugee status of Palestinians, which exists independently of UNRWA’s provision of services, but seriously harms their lives and future.”
Lazzarini has also denounced that “the legislation comes after a year of blatant disregard for the lives of UNRWA personnel, its facilities and humanitarian operations in Gaza, and after intense diplomatic campaigns by the Government of Israel directed at donors of UNRWA with disinformation to undermine funding.”
Earlier this year, more than 15 countries suspended funding to UNRWA after Israel accused 12 agency workers of participating in the Hamas attacks of October 7 (in which more than 1,200 people died and 251 were kidnapped). In August, the UN concluded that only nine of those workers could have links to the Islamist group, while an independent investigation commissioned by the United Nations indicated that Israel had not provided evidence demonstrating the involvement of UNRWA personnel in Hamas attacks. .
The Israeli government has continued to link UNRWA to the Palestinian group’s military activities, accusing its employees of being Hamas militants and Hamas of using the agency’s facilities to hide, store weapons or launch attacks. In fact, one of the bills initially introduced by Knesset deputies sought to designate UNRWA as a terrorist organization, but was ultimately discarded.
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