The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution affirming its full support for the mandate of the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, UNRWA, and deploring the legislation against the agency which was adopted by the Knesset in late October.
159 countries voted in favor of the resolution, nine voted against it and 11 abstained.
In addition to Israel, the countries that voted against the resolution are Argentina, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, and the United States.
The countries which abstained were: Austria, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Czechia, Fiji, Georgia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Moldova, South Sudan, and Togo.
The General Assembly also adopted a second resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
158 countries voted in favor of that resolution, nine voted against and 13 abstained.
The Foreign Ministry officially announced last month the cancellation of the 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA, which formed the legal basis for relations between the State of Israel and UNRWA.
The announcement followed the Knesset’s approval of the law halting UNRWA's activities in Israel.
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, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the creation of a review group, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, to look into the Israeli allegations.
The group, which released its report in April, said it 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.