Israel said Monday that it has terminated the agreement facilitating the work of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza, in what appeared to be a step to implement legislation passed last month that would sever ties with the agency and prevent it from operating in Israel.
Israel says the agency, known as UNRWA, has been infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA denies the allegations and says it takes measures to ensure its neutrality.
On Sunday, Israel said its troops had carried out a ground raid into Syria to seize a Syrian it accuses of working with Iran. It was the first time in the current war that Israel announced its troops operated in Syrian territory.
Despite growing pressure from the United States and others in the international community for a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, intensified Israeli strikes against the Hezbollah group are expanding beyond Lebanon’s border areas. Israel is also fighting a seemingly endless war against Hamas in northern Gaza.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted last year, at least 2,900 people have been killed and 13,150 wounded in Lebanon, the Health Ministry reports, not including Friday’s toll. Health authorities say that a quarter of those killed were women and children.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini speaks to the media. File photo
More than a year of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children. The war began after Palestinian group Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X that an average of just 30 trucks daily were allowed into Gaza last month.
The UN has said around 500 trucks entered every day before the war.
Gazans told AFP they were alarmed by Israel’s move.
Abdul Karim Kallab from the southern city of Khan Yunis said the people “depend almost entirely on aid coming from abroad, especially from UNRWA”, and without it they would starve.
Hamas said it showed that Israel was a “rogue state”.
But Katz said aid would continue entering Gaza “in a manner that does not harm the security of the citizens of Israel”.
UNRWA fired nine employees after an internal probe found they “may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October”.
The UN General Assembly, which originally set up UNRWA, will hold a session on Wednesday, scheduled before Israel sent the letter.
Gaza’s civil defence chief Mahmud Bassal said Monday that “there is a severe blockade on medicine, water, and food” in north Gaza and more than 1,300 people have been killed in Israel’s operation there.
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