With an Israeli ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency due to begin in two weeks, a key Knesset lawmaker on Sunday called the blacklist, “the first domino in the collapse of Palestinian terrorism.”
A summary of a confidential discussion of legislation by the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee quoted committee chairman Yuli Edelstein saying, “Removing UNRWA from the equation will finally provide an opportunity to stop the perpetuation of terrorism and begin a de-radicalization process in UNRWA’s centers of activity. This is the first domino in the collapse of Palestinian terrorism and a bright spot of hope for a better future.”
In October, the Knesset passed legislation taking effect later in January stripping UNRWA of its diplomatic immunity, barring Israeli officials from cooperating with the agency, and prohibiting it from operating in Israeli sovereign territory. Israel withdrew its diplomatic recognition of UNRWA one month later. Without work permits for foreign staff or coordination of passage at checkpoints, the agency will not be able to function. Even in Gaza, UNWA coordinates heavily with the Israeli army.
In early January, UN Watch, a Geneva-based watchdog organization, accused UNRWA of having an “unholy alliance” with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Its 55-page report accused Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, and his colleagues of enabling infiltration by Hamas and other terror groups.
According to the report, over 10% of UNRWA’s senior educators in Gaza are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israeli authorities have also alleged that hundreds of UNRWA’s 13,000 Gazan employees, including teachers, are active members of Hamas. It also found that the terror groups influenced UNRWA policies, indoctrinated Arab children through agency schools, and established military infrastructure near UNRWA’s Gaza facilities.
More than 100 survivors of Hamas’s October 7 attacks filed a $1 billion lawsuit against UNRWA in June, accusing the agency of “aiding and abetting” the terror group. According to the suit, the lead plaintiff, 84-year-old Ditza Heiman of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was held captive for seven weeks in the home of a Gazan man who said he was a UNRWA teacher at a boy’s school. The suit also alleges that UNRWA enacted an employee payment scheme to benefit Hamas in violation of UN protocols.
Israel’s largest bank froze UNRWA’s account in February over suspicious financial transfers that the agency failed to adequately explain. That same month, Israeli forces discovered a Hamas complex located directly under the UNRWA’s Gaza City headquarters and connected directly to the agency’s electricity system. The facility included numerous computer servers belonging to the terror group.
In May, UNRWA was ordered to vacate its Jerusalem offices in May over lease violations.
“Palestinian” refugees are the only refugee population with its own dedicated UN agency. The rest of the world’s refugees fall under the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 94 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead.
