At a time when the international community is already accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, why should one more global crisis over the Palestinians matter to an Israeli public engaged in an existential battle for its borders?
Particularly one that marks a symbolic victory for the Israeli Right, such as the two Knesset votes taken Monday to shut down the UN Relief and Works Agency operations in territory under its control after 75 years of operation.
For right-wing Israelis who have long viewed UNRWA as a symbol of the Palestinians’ desire for self-determination from “the River to the Sea,” the Knesset vote marked the end of a decades-long campaign highlighting the dangers of the agency.
The move robs the Palestinians of a central humanitarian service agency funded by the international community through an independent channel from entangling issues regarding the Palestinian Authority. It comes at a time of acute crisis, particularly in Gaza, where UNRWA has been one of the vital arteries for basic services.
The shuttering of those services in east Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank within 90 days, without a clear alternative as to how to provide services for the 2.3 million Palestinian refugees it services in those territories, creates new crises for Israel even as it replaces others.
Here are eight takes on what UNRWA is and why and how it has placed Israel in the international hot seat.
1. When was UNRWA created and what does it do?
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency was created in 1949 to provide services to more than 700,000 Palestinians displaced as a result of the 1948 War of Independence. The main UN High Commission for Refugees opened only in 1950. The two organizations have operated concurrently and were never merged.
Today, UNRWA confers Palestinian refugee status on those original displaced persons as well as their descendants, servicing 5.9 million. It operates in six areas, helping 568,730 live in Syria, 489,292 in Lebanon, 2,307,011 in Jordan, 1,476,706 in Gaza, and 912,879 in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. It provides education and health care as well as basic humanitarian necessities including food with funding from member states of the UN.
2. Does the Knesset vote shutter UNRWA in Gaza, east Jerusalem, and the West Bank?
Yes. UNRWA’s mandate to operate is granted by the UN General Assembly, and only that 193-member body can strip it of its right to operate. Since 1967, Israel has had the power to pragmatically shut UNRWA down in east Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank because it controls those three territories.
UNRWA needs permission from Israel to bring supplies into those areas for its personnel to operate there.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed this in a letter he sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Knesset vote. Neither Netanyahu or Foreign Minister Israel Katz were present for the vote.
The legislation itself can be appealed to the High Court of Justice. Guterres told Netanyahu that the legislation would “prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work” in east Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank.
3. Why does Israel want to close UNRWA?
The Israeli Right has long argued that UNRWA plays a destructive role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, charging that it allows textbooks that incite against Jews and Israel. It has also taken issue with its decision to grant refugee status to descendants of the original Palestinian refugees, creating an ever-growing population that expects a right of return to sovereign Israel.
Granting that right to such a large population of Palestinians would destroy Israel’s identity as a Jewish democracy. Even on a pragmatic level, the Right has argued, UNRWA is not an efficient or effective service provider.
The push to close UNRWA received overwhelming Knesset support with 92 out of 120 parliamentarians supporting the first bill and 88 backing the second, with the organization’s opponents charging that the Gaza war unveiled the extent to which Hamas was intertwined with UNRWA including finding Hamas weapons in its schools and facilities.
The Foreign Ministry wrote on Wednesday that Hamas “has infiltrated UNRWA in Gaza widely and deeply. UNRWA employees were involved in the horrific October 7 massacre. Many of UNRWA’s workers are Hamas operatives.” Israel has also charged that some UNRWA workers were involved in the kidnapping of Israelis on October 7.
UNRWA, which opened an investigation into those claims and fired some of its workers, has said that its 30,000 staff members in the region are expected to “adhere to UN values and core humanitarian principles” and is investigating claims of violations and connections to terror.
It has noted that it has a no-tolerance stance on hate speech and that its schools reflect the value of tolerance. UNRWA has further said that as part of the ongoing conflict, many parties have violated the neutrality of their school and institutions.
UNRWA proponents have argued that the claims against the organization are political in nature and designed to disconnect the Palestinians from representative bodies. They have further noted that closing the premier Palestinian neutral service provider will not diminish the Palestinian drive for self-determination or the desire of the refugees for the right to return to their homeland.
4. Does Israel risk restricted US military aid?
Yes. Under the US Foreign Assistance Act, Washington cannot give military aid to countries that directly or indirectly impede the delivery of US humanitarian assistance.
The US told Israel in a letter on October 13 that it must take steps within 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on US military aid.
It also warned Israel in the letter against adopting the UNRWA ban because of the humanitarian impact on Gaza and the West Bank, although that was not listed as a requirement for avoiding US action.
“There could be consequences under US law and US policy for the implementation of this legislation,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday.
5. Is Israel now in violation of the UN charter?
Yes. Guterres, in his letter to Netanyahu, a copy of which was seen by The Jerusalem Post, details which UN obligations Israel has violated should it close UNRWA.
As a UN member, Guterres wrote, Israel is required under Article 2, Paragraph 5 of the UN Charter “to give UNRWA every assistance.”
The Knesset votes do not impact those obligations, he said, explaining that the UN still planned to hold Israel accountable for its promises in documents it has signed, including the “Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, to which Israel has been a party since 21 February 1949.” That convention, Guterres wrote, is applicable to UNRWA.
The UN, he said, would continue to hold Israel to its promises from its 1967 Exchange of Letters with the UN, in which Israel granted the organization the right to operate within the territory it controlled. He also warned that Israel must provide diplomatic rights to UNRWA personnel and its facilities.
6. Is Israel in violation of international law?
Guterres indicated that he believed Israel was in violation of international by closing UNRWA and that Israeli domestic legislation could not alleviate Israel of that responsibility.
The International Court of Justice, however, is the actual arbiter on issues of international law. To that end, both Guterres and Norway have spoken of the possibility of referring the matter to the ICJ for an advisory opinion.
Norway has also already said that it is planning to put a resolution on the issue before the UN General Assembly.
7. Will Israel get kicked out of the UN?
Not automatically. There is nothing about the passage of the Knesset laws or the closing of UNRWA that automatically generates Israel’s explosion from the UN.
But it does open Israel to retributory actions by member states. The UN General Assembly could strip Israel of voting rights. Israel’s mission to the UN could lose its credentials, but only the UN Security Council can eject a member state from the UN. The US would likely veto such a move.
8. Israel could be liable for humanitarian funding to Palestinians
Israel could be responsible under international law for providing education, health care, and basic necessities to the Palestinians now serviced by UNRWA.
Legal expert Yuval Shany explained that as the force that controls the territory in which UNRWA operates, “Israel would be legally responsible to ensure that basic needs of the local population are met. To the extent that UNRWA is no longer able to provide many of the services that address those needs, it would fall on Israel to offer them through other means.”
Israel has hoped that other international groups would move in to service the Palestinians, one that would not have a perceived political agenda and would be more efficient in the provision of services.
The Foreign Ministry has noted that already other organizations have replaced UNRWA in Gaza, explaining that only 13% of the basic food supplies that enter the enclave are brought in by UNRWA. The fear, however, is that the international community would instead simply leave Israel to foot the bill and figure out how to provide the services.
It’s a move that would automatically increase Israel’s military control of Palestinian civilian life in the West Bank and Gaza. Such a step would only deepen Israel’s image as an occupying force at a time and increase the pressure for Palestinian statehood, at a time when the Jewish state is already under growing international pressure to accept a two-state resolution to the conflict.•
Reuters contributed to this report.