Israel has passed two laws banning the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) from operating in Israel, and in occupied areas under its control, by large majorities.
A number of countries, including the US, the UK and Germany, have expressed serious concern about the move.
Ahead of the vote, the US State Department said the agency played a “critical” role in distributing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. Almost all of the enclave’s population of more than two million people is dependent on aid and services from Unrwa.
Israel accuses Unrwa of being all but complicit with Hamas, saying that some of the agency’s members were involved in the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.