The United Nations on Tuesday criticized Israel’s latest actions against the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, UNRWA, claiming it could deprive millions of people of essential services, including education and healthcare.
On Monday, the Knesset passed new legislation formally revoking diplomatic immunity for UNRWA and barring Israeli companies from supplying water or electricity to the agency’s institutions.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the move as “outrageous,” describing it on social media as “part of an ongoing, systematic campaign to discredit UNRWA and thereby obstruct the core role that the agency plays providing human-development assistance and services to Palestine refugees.”
Filippo Grandi, outgoing head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR and a former UNRWA chief, called the decision “very unfortunate.”
In an interview with AFP, he noted that UNRWA uniquely provides public services such as education and healthcare to millions of registered “Palestinian refugees” across Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.
“If you deprive those people of those services... then you had better find a substitute,” he said, adding: “I think it would be very difficult.”
“At the moment, there is a great risk that millions of people will be deprived of basic services if UNRWA is further deprived of space to work, and resources to work,” he warned.
UNRWA has long been criticized for its cooperation with the Hamas terrorist organization, which has been proven time and time again. That criticism has increased since Israel provided evidence in 2024 that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.
Following the Israeli revelations, the UN formed a review group, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, to look into the Israeli allegations.
The group said in its report that 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.
Emily Damari, a former Hamas hostage who was freed after 470 days in captivity, said that she was held at an UNRWA facility.
In April 2025, USAID revealed that the United Nations obstructed an investigation by the American government into the ties between UNRWA employees in Gaza and the Hamas terrorist organization.
Despite all the evidence showing UNRWA’s deep ties to Hamas, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently ruled that Israel must facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through UN agencies, including UNRWA. That ruling was criticized by Israel as well as by the US.
Grandi pushed back against the accusations, saying, “UNRWA is a very indispensable organization in the Middle East.”
“Contrary to much of the frankly baseless rhetoric that we have heard in the past couple of years, UNRWA is a force for peace and stability,” he continued. “In a region in which you need every bit of stability and efforts towards peace, it would be really irresponsible to let such an important organization decline further.”