Israel’s Knesset voted late Monday, 28 October, to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating within Israel, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. The legislation, passed 92-10, bars UNRWA from conducting “any activity” or providing services within Israel. The restriction will take effect in 90 days. Israeli lawmakers also designated UNRWA a terror organization, effectively blocking any direct engagement between the Israeli government and the agency. The new law mandates the closure of UNRWA’s East Jerusalem office, restricts entry permits for foreign staff, and interrupts aid routes into Gaza. Israel justified the move by citing allegations of UNRWA staff involvement in terrorism. The Israeli government alleges that more than 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror. Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, condemned the vote as “unprecedented” and a violation of Israel’s international obligations, stating that it “will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza, where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell.” Lazzarini highlighted that…
