Israel insists it is going ahead with Unrwa ban – what it may mean for Palestinians
Israel insists it is going ahead with Unrwa ban – what it may mean for Palestinians
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UN agency ordered to vacate HQ by Thursday – just as aid is being increased to Gaza after ceasefire. Israel has insisted it will not back down over its plan to close down the Gaza operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), the UN relief agency for Palestinians, even though critics say the move will jeopardise urgent humanitarian aid efforts.
![[Israel's Unrwa ban prompts condemnation and concern for Gaza – video report]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b601ad68e69d9e01a677f23a60120ce3974dbe91/0_300_5760_3240/5760.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Israel has ordered the UN agency to vacate its headquarters in East Jerusalem by Thursday, after the Israeli Knesset passed a law on 28 October banning its operations in Israel and the Palestinian territories. It has not yet said how it will implement a related law ending all Israeli government cooperation with Unwra, which could come into force on the same day and strangle its operations in the West Bank and Gaza.
The move comes as Unrwa and other aid groups have been able, as part of the ceasefire agreement, to pour aid into the Gaza Strip after months of Israeli obstruction, amid warnings of imminent famine in some areas. Unrwa has 7,000 trucks of supplies outside Gaza and 1,500 under procurement, according to Sam Rose, its acting director of emergency operations. He told the Guardian he expected it to have provided food parcels to 1 million people in the 10 days since the ceasefire, and was also primed to send stocks including tarpaulins and mattresses for 1.6 million people.
The Israeli government is adamant that Unrwa staff took part in the 7 October massacre, and that Hamas has infiltrated the organisation, compromising its neutrality. The UN commissioned two independent reports on aspects of the allegations, and says it acted to protect its neutrality where clear evidence was produced.
