Israel’s parliament has voted on Monday evening, October 28, to ban a nearly eight-decade-old United Nations agency that provides essential services for Palestinian refugees, a move that could have devastating consequences for millions of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. The Knesset passed two bills; one barring UNRWA from activity within Israel, and another banning Israeli authorities from any contact with UNRWA – revoking the 1967 treaty that allows UNRWA to provide services to Palestinian refugees in areas under Israel’s control.
Staff and members of Rabbis for Human Rights last night calling for an end to the bloodshed and for a hostage deal now, Monday, October 28, 2024 (Photo: Rabbis for Human Rights)
UNRWA is the primary humanitarian aid group in Gaza. Nearly 2 million Gazans rely on the agency for aid, with 1 million people using UNRWA shelters for food and healthcare in the enclave. The agency has provided Gazans with everything from food and healthcare to education and psychological support for decades.
According to Adalah, the laws passed seek to ban UNRWA from operating within Israel’s ‘sovereign territory,’ this would lead to the closure of UNRWA’s headquarters in occupied and annexed East Jerusalem, which serves as the management and administrative hub for its operations across the occupied Palestinian territories and would halt all UNRWA services and activities in East Jerusalem. The laws further prohibit Israeli authorities from engaging with UNRWA or its representatives (“No contact”). Additionally, they stipulate that the agreement between Israel and UNRWA, dated June 1967, which has facilitated the agency’s operations and coordination with state authorities, will expire and will not be renewed. The law will take effect three months after its passage, except for the termination of the agreement, which will take effect immediately. Adalah sent a letter on October 21 demanding that Israeli Knesset members immediately withdraw the proposed legislation and cease any further advancement of the bills.
Following the passing of the first law, Boaz Bismuth (Likud), the architect of the bill, said: “Anyone that behaves like a terrorist has no rights in Israel. UNRWA equals Hamas, period.” The move went ahead despite heated opposition from Hadash members of the Knesset and strong international pressure.
The first law was approved with 92 votes in favor, 10 against. The second was approved with 87 votes in favor, 9 against. Even MKs from several opposition parties, including centrist Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid (There is a Future) and Benny Gantz’s National Unity, voted in favor of the ban.
Hadash-Ta’al chairman MK Ayman Odeh opposed both bills and said at the plenum said that this is an “irony” that Israel opposed the fact that the descendants of Palestinian refugees retained their refugee status and claimed a “right of return,” but at the same time maintained that Jewish refugees expelled 2,000 years ago had a “right of return” to the Land of Israel.
MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash) said the “bills stem from a long-time ambition of the Israeli right – to strip Palestinian refugees from their status.” “The State of Israel was established based on a United Nations resolution, grounded in principles of international law and human rights. Today, however, it is enacting policies that directly undermine these foundational values and defy international agreements. Actions that target UN agencies, such as today’s vote on legislation to outlaw UNRWA and halt its operations, deprive the Palestinian population of basic rights and services, contradicting the commitments upon which Israel’s own establishment relied. Such policies only deepen injustices and distance us from the possibility of a just and lasting peace. Israel is in effect creating new refugees every day while questioning the legitimacy of that very status,” she added
During the debate, Likud MK Tally Gotliv was physically restrained by Knesset ushers after approaching the podium during a speech by Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi. The racist MK approaches Tibi, as he spoke against the “fascist legislation” which would essentially bar UNRWA for operating in Israel, and severely curtail its activities in Gaza and the West Bank. “The Palestinian people will be freed from the occupation,” Tibi screams, as rightwing MKs call for him to leave the Knesset. During the confrontation, ushers work to keep National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and MK Odeh separate, as they yell at each other.
According to Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif, “The governing coalition of war criminals in Israel passed the legislation to outlaw UNRWA today as part of the tsunami of political turmoil repression in Israeli society. Disgracefully, large parts of the so-called liberal opposition supported this law and allow the criminal government of Netanyahu to run rogue. The humanitarian efforts of UNRWA are crucial to prevent mass extermination of Palestinians in Gaza amidst this worsening genocide. Precisely because of that it is targeted by those who seek to destroy Palestinians as a whole. The time for empty words has passed, the international community must act immediately to prevent this catastrophe.”
As the debate in the plenum continues, thousands of protesters marched to a rally near the Knesset, where they criticized the far-right government, the hostage situation and the advancement of antidemocratic laws. The protest, marking the first day of the Knesset’s winter session, followed a day full of protests and advocacy for the hostages.
After the meeting near the Knesset, hundreds of protesters gather outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem demanding a hostage deal and the toppling of the government, with 14 activists arrested during clashes with police. There the protesters shouted slogans and held up signs calling for new elections, against the war in Gaza and Lebanon, against fascism and blaming Netanyahu for the failure to release the hostages.
The vote in the Knesset was swiftly criticized by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, who said it violated international law and was “the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimize its role toward providing human-development assistance and services to Palestine refugees.” Ahead of the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that passing the bills would be a “catastrophe,” while European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell stated that they “would have disastrous consequences.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32004
