Israel’s new laws banning UNRWA already taking effect

Israeli legislation banning the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, is bringing fundamental changes to its operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, according to the agency and Palestinians they serve in Gaza who spoke with UN News on Wednesday.

If implemented, the two new laws passed in October will simultaneously prohibit Israeli authorities from contacting UNRWA and ban the agency from operating in war-ravaged Gaza and East Jerusalem and the West Bank, according to UNRWA spokesperson Jonathan Fowler.

As such, poised to change are Israel’s role as the occupying power and the work of the UN General Assembly-mandated agency known since 1949 as the backbone of humanitarian aid assisting nearly six million Palestine refugees today.

Check out UN Photo’s essay What UNRWA Built here.

Evacuation and relocation

Israel as the occupying power is responsible for issuing visas to international staff from humanitarian organizations like UNRWA, whose headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem comprise a compound protected by the 1946 Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The Knesset legislation has yet to come into force but is already impacting UN operations in the region.

Israel has shortened all visas for UNRWA’s international staff to expire on Wednesday, which “is tantamount to being evicted” or declared persona non grata, Mr. Fowler said.

As such, UNRWA’s international staff at the East Jerusalem office had to evacuate and relocate to Amman, Jordan earlier in the day. Office equipment and vehicles have been moved out, and efforts are continuing to digitise its archives.

National staff will remain in East Jerusalem, but they face risks, including upcoming demonstrations by Israeli protestors, Mr. Fowler said. During the Gaza war, the compound had faced security issues, including arson attacks and violent protests.

UNRWA had to comply with Israeli orders due to visa requirements despite East Jerusalem being recognised as occupied territory under international law, he added.

Will UNRWA shut down completely?

UNRWA’s mandate has remained the same for decades and it will not be ceasing all operations, said Mr. Fowler. It is unique as a working model that has provided core services such as healthcare and education to refugees and their descendants in line with its General Assembly-approved mandate.

The agency also provides services to Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

“UNRWA remains absolutely committed to stay and deliver,” Mr. Fowler said.

“We will not stop. We’re not bowing down to this. But, we do know that the practical impacts, the uncertainty mean that our operations could be substantially affected.”

Backbone of aid in Gaza

Up to the current fragile ceasefire, Israeli forces killed more than 47,000 Palestinians – according to local health authorities – and 270 UNRWA staff members in Gaza. Yet, despite challenges, agency staff in Gaza continue to operate, providing essential humanitarian aid, Mr. Fowler said.

Over the first three days of the 19 January ceasefire, UNRWA provided food for one million people and one million blankets.

Indeed, the UN agency is responsible for over half of deliveries inside the Gaza Strip and over half the aid coming in.

The ceasefire has allowed UNRWA to scale up aid, but the situation remains precarious, he stressed.

Impact on services

The Israeli laws could halt all UNRWA operations in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, affecting schools, healthcare centres and other services, Mr. Fowler explained.

Some Palestinians in Gaza are worried at the prospect of losing UNRWA, including Iman Hillis, who is currently staying in an UNRWA school with her family.

“We will have nothing to eat or drink, and this will affect us greatly,” she told UN News. “All the people will be destroyed and will not have food, water or flour.”

International response amid ‘biggest fears’

UNRWA supporters, UN Member States and UN officials have pressed Israel to reverse course up to the last minute. However, there is concern about the precedent this situation could set for other UN operations worldwide, Mr. Fowler said.

The current situation is as unique as the agency itself. Israel’s ban is unprecedented. Never before has a UN Member State tried to undo the mandate of a UN organization.

‘We’re at the 11th hour’

“We face the risk of this becoming an example, which would then eventually morph into some kind of new normal,” Mr. Fowler said.

In other places around the world, that “new normal” is a “very, very nightmarish scenario”, he warned.

“The multilateral system is not perfect, but it’s the system that we have, and this is a unilateral blow against multilateralism,” he said.

“We’re at the 11th hour. We all have to continue efforts to convince Israeli authorities to at least freeze this decision or void the laws completely. Our biggest fear is there is no Plan B.”

Why can’t other aid agencies just take over?

Uniquely, the UN General Assembly makes the decisions on UNRWA and how and where it operates.

“No other agency has the scale and depth to do what we do,” Mr. Fowler said.

However, under international humanitarian law, the occupying power is responsible to assure the wellbeing of the population under occupation, he added.

“By voiding our mandate, the Israeli officials who have promoted this need to think hard about the fact that if there’s any Plan B, it’s on them,” he said.

How will Israel’s role change?

As the occupying power, Israel is and has been responsible for all services to the populations living in Occupied Palestinian Territory since it seized the areas in 1967.

An agreement in 1967 between Israel and UNRWA recognised the UN Palestine relief agency and its General Assembly-mandated tasks serving Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

With the new legislation that, in effect, cancels that agreement, Israel continues to be responsible as the occupying power, including for all public services.

As such, Israel will need to absorb the cost. UNRWA’s annual budget runs at about $1 billion every year.