United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday criticized the laws approved in the Knesset banning the operations of UN “Palestinian refugee agency” UNRWA in Israel.
In a statement, Guterres said the legislation "could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is unacceptable."
"There is no alternative to UNRWA," he added. "The implementation of these laws would be detrimental for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for peace and security in the region as a whole. As I said before, UNRWA is indispensable."
Guterres also stated he would bring the matter to the attention of the 193-member UN General Assembly.
The Knesset approved the bills banning UNRWA with a historic majority of 92 out of 120 MKs. Only 10 MKs voted against the bills, with the opposition parties National Unity, Yisrael Beytenu, and Yesh Atid supporting it. The Democrats party abstained.
The bills received initial Knesset approval in July.
Responding to the approval of the legislation, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that the vote in the Knesset “is unprecedented and sets a dangerous precedent. It opposes the UN Charter and violates the State of Israel’s obligations under international law.”
“This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimize its role towards providing human-development assistance and services to Palestine Refugees,” he charged.
"These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell. It will deprive over 650,000 girls and boys there from education, putting at risk an entire generation of children. These bills increase the suffering of the Palestinians and are nothing less than collective punishment,” claimed Lazzarini.
“Putting an end to UNRWA and its services will not strip the Palestinians from their refugee status. That status is protected by another UN General Assembly resolution until a fair and lasting solution is found to the plight of the Palestinians,” he added.
“Failing to push back these bills will weaken our common multilateral mechanism established after World War 2. This should be a concern to all,” concluded the UNRWA chief.
UNRWA, which has long been criticized for cooperating with Hamas, has come under increased scrutiny as its workers have been found to have been directly involved in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israel revealed in January of this year that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks. It then presented a dossier showing that the UNRWA workers who participated in the Hamas massacre kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition and actively took part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered.
Following the Israeli revelations, Guterres announced the creation of a review group, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, to look into the Israeli allegations.
The group released its report in April. The report found neutrality-related issues" in UNRWA but also claimed that Israel had yet to provide evidence for allegations that a significant number of its staff were members of terrorist organizations.