The ban, which sparked global condemnation including from Israel’s main backer the United States, was due to take effect at the end of January, and the UN Security Council warned it would have serious consequences for millions of Palestinians.

Israel has accused a dozen UNRWA agency employees of participating in the October 7, 2023 attack carried out by Hamas, the deadliest in Israeli history.

UNRWA fired nine employees in the wake of the attack that sparked the Gaza war following the allegations.

“On the instructions of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the UN of the cancellation of the agreement between the State of Israel and UNRWA,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“UNRWA, the organization whose employees participated in the October 7 massacre and many of whose employees are Hamas agents, is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution,” Katz said.

The October 7 Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliation campaign has killed 43,341 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-controlled territory’s Health Ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.

‘UNRWA or nothing’

UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler told AFP the ban would likely lead to the collapse of aid efforts to Gaza.

“If this law is implemented, it would likely lead to the collapse of the international humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip, an operation of which UNRWA is the backbone,” Fowler told AFP.

“It would also be likely to lead to the collapse of essential services provided by UNRWA in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including education, health care and sanitation.”

But Israel has dismissed the argument about Gaza, saying UNRWA was only giving the territory part of the aid.

“The State of Israel is committed to international law and will continue to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in a manner that does not harm the security of the citizens of Israel,” Katz said.

Residents of the Nur Shams camp in the occupied West Bank feared for the future after an Israeli raid last week damaged the UNRWA office there.

The 13,000 inhabitants of the countryside near the northern town of Tulkarem depend heavily on UNRWA.

“For us, it’s UNRWA or nothing,” Shafiq Ahmad Jad, who runs a telephone shop in the camp, told AFP.

“The refugees… see UNRWA as their mother,” said Hanadi Jabr Abu Taqa, an agency official in charge of the northern West Bank.

“So imagine if you lost your mother.”

A series of investigations, including one led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, found some “problems related to neutrality” at UNRWA, but highlighted that Israel had not provided evidence for its main accusations.

An internal investigation concluded that nine employees “may have been involved in the armed attacks on October 7.”

UNRWA was created in 1949 after the first Arab-Israeli conflict following the creation of Israel in 1948.

The agency, which began operations on May 1, 1950, was tasked with helping some 750,000 Palestinians who had fled or been expelled from their homes during the war.

Since then, its mandate has been repeatedly expanded in the absence of a solution for Palestinian refugees.

Since late September, Israel has expanded the focus of its war to Lebanon, where it intensified a campaign against Hamas ally Hezbollah after nearly a year of cross-border fire.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the northern border with Lebanon, where he reiterated his war goals on the northern front in a meeting with troops.

“I want to be clear: with or without a deal, the key to restoring peace and security in the north… is, first and foremost, pushing Hezbollah back beyond the Litani River, second, attacking any attempts at rearmament, and third, respond firmly to any action taken against us,” Netanyahu told troops at the border, his office said in a statement.

The Litani River flows through southern Lebanon, and the area to the south has seen multiple wars with Israel in recent decades.

Lebanon strikes

Israel launched a massive air campaign targeting Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon in late September and sent in ground troops on September 30.

The war in Lebanon has killed more than 1,940 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the Lebanese Health Ministry, although the real number of victims is probably higher.

On Monday, the Israeli military said it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander responsible for launching rocket and anti-missile strikes against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, said it fired rockets at the northern Israeli city of Safed on Monday.

Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of Hamas in Gaza, although many in both Lebanon and the Palestinian territory are calling for a ceasefire as the humanitarian situation worsens.

Israeli aircraft carried out strikes on Monday against several areas in southern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA).

In Bazouriyeh, near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, ANE said rescuers were searching for people missing under the rubble after an attack on Sunday.

© 2024 AFP