Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), said the implementation of a ban on the agency’s operations inside Israel would cripple its ability to work in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where a fragile ceasefire currently remains in place.
Lazzarini told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the ban would “heighten instability and deepen despair in the occupied Palestinian territory at a critical moment”.
“The relentless assault on UNRWA is harming the lives and future of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory,” he said.
“It is eroding their trust in the international community, jeopardising any prospect for peace and security.”
An Israeli law, which was adopted in October and goes into effect on Thursday, bans Unrwa’s operations in Israel. The law says this would include occupied East Jerusalem, though it is recognised internationally as Palestinian land.
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“Unrwa must cease its operations and evacuate all premises it operates in Jerusalem, including the properties located in Maalot Dafna and Kafr Aqab,” Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council.
“Israel will terminate all collaboration, communication and contact with Unrwa or anyone acting on its behalf,” he said.
The UN agency provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories, as well as the millions of Palestinians living in refugee camps in the neighbouring countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Unrwa has also for decades run schools and medical clinics in occupied East Jerusalem, which Israel seized from Jordan in the 1967 War.
Biden cut Unrwa funding
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has supported Israel’s decision to close Unrwa’s offices.
“It is Israel’s sovereign decision to close Unrwa’s offices in Jerusalem on January 30. The United States supports the implementation of this decision,” US deputy ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the Security Council on Tuesday.
“Unrwa exaggerating the effects of the laws and suggesting that they will force the entire humanitarian response to halt is irresponsible and dangerous,” Shea said.
Trump’s support of Israel’s attacks on Unrwa is not new. Under the previous Trump administration, Washington cut funding to the UN agency, saying it was a “flawed operation”.
However, while aid agencies have expressed worries that Trump’s pause on all foreign aid – except aid to Israel and Egypt – will impact Unrwa’s ability to operate, the agency has already been operating without US funding for the past year.
In 2024, the Biden administration cut funding to Unrwa, and US legislation codified those funding cuts, which are set to last until March 2025.
