TRANSCRIPT
Israel has passed a law banning the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Israel.
The bill bans the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from providing any service or conducting any activity within Israel, designating the crucial aid agency as a terrorist organisation.
Member of the Israeli Knesset Boaz Bismuth was one of the bill’s sponsors; he says UNRWA is an agency for Hamas.
“The law that we passed now is not just another bill, it is a call for justice and a wake up call that marks a clear red line: whoever acts against Israeli citizens, anyone who dares to cooperate or aid terror. Mr. Speaker, anyone who acts like a terrorist, has no right to exist in the state of Israel. Not now or in the future. UNRWA as we said is not an aid agency for refugees. It is an aid agency for Hamas.”
The bill strips UNRWA staff of legal immunity and prohibits ties between Israeli officials and the agency.
Earlier in the year, Israel made allegations against a number of UNRWA staff members, making claims they had involvements in the October 7 attack.
Israel has killed at least 230 UNRWA staff during its military campaign in Gaza.
Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq says a staff member killed last week was not identified by Israel in their allegations.
“UNRWA confirms that this staff member was not on the list that the Government of Israel provided to UNRWA in January when it claimed that 12 and eventually 19 UNRWA staff had allegedly took part in the abhorrent seventh of October attack against Israel, a UN investigation was put in place immediately, which was completed this past August. The staff member in question was later included in the letter that the Israeli government sent to UNRWA in July. In that letter, it claimed that another 100 UNRWA staff members were allegedly members of the military wing of Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas. The UNRWA Commissioner General, Philippe Lazzarini, responded to that letter immediately. stating that any allegation has taken seriously. He urged the Israeli government to cooperate with the agency by providing more information, so he could take action to date, UNRWA has not received any response to that letter.”
Despite Israel presenting no evidence for their claims, at least 16 countries, including Australia, suspended funding to the agency as Israeli attacks devastated the Palestinian population in Gaza.
After most countries resumed aid, a UN investigation found that nine staff may have been involved in the attacks; all were fired from their position.
Dr Martin Kear is a lecturer in International Relations at the University of Sydney.
He told SBS that the allegations against UNRWA were an attempt to sow doubt about the agency and its importance in the region.
“I think that was a deliberate ploy by the Israeli Government to de-legitimate UNRWA. And have UNRWA act as an independent in some respects, an independent observer to what was happening in Gaza, particularly after October 7th. UNRWA employs, you know, thousands of people throughout the occupied territories. Is it conceivable that members of Hamas were also members of UNRWA? That's entirely possible, given the fact that UNRWA was responsible for providing the majority of food and water and basic supplies coming into Gaza.”
Israel's bill comes at a time when even the United States, their most reliable ally, has threatened to cut military aid to Israel unless it allows more aid into Gaza.
Israel has routinely limited aid into Gaza over the past year, with almost the entire population of Palestinians in the territory facing extreme levels of hunger and famine.
The Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, alongside other world leaders, are condemning the bill and urging Israel not to follow through with enacting it.
US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller says the United States is concerned about the legislation.
“UNWRA plays a critical, important role in delivering humanitarian assistance to civilians that need it in Gaza. It's not the only role they play. They play an important role providing services to Palestinians in the West Bank and throughout the region as well. But they really play an irreplaceable role right now in Gaza, where they are on the front lines, getting humanitarian assistance to the people that need it. There's nobody that can replace them right now in the middle of the crisis. So we continue to urge the government of Israel to pause the implementation of this legislation. We urge them not to pass it at all. And we will consider next steps based on what happens in the days ahead.”
Established in 1949, following the forced displacement of 700,000 Palestinians during the Nakba, UNRWA was established to provide relief to the then almost one million Palestinian refugees.
The aid agency currently services around 5.9 million Palestinian people and has been crucial in the provision of aid and humanitarian assistance throughout Israel's most recent bombardment and assault on Gaza and in the occupied West Bank.
In this archival United Nations Dateline report from 1958, host Sonny Fox gives some insight into just how long the agency has been working to provide relief in the face of Israeli aggression.
“These are the refugees now numbering about 1 million, who are cared for by UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. UNRWA began its work in 1950, with a twofold purpose. First, provide food, shelter, medical care, and education for the refugees and second, to attempt to make those refugees, self supporting.”
Acting Director for UNRWA in 1958, Leslie Carver tells viewers of the resilience of the Palestinian refugees, even in the direst of circumstances.
“Considering the conditions in which many of the Palestine Refugees are living, and considering the comparatively low nutritive content of the monotonous ration, it is little short of a miracle that the health of nearly 1 million human beings has been so well preserved. The cost of our medical services, including medicines and drugs, hospital services and clinics is less than $3 per person per year”
With intensifying Israeli attacks in the north of Gaza, and reports no aid has reached the around 400,000 Palestinian people trapped there for almost one month, some people are arguing that Israel is attempting to make Gaza and the other occupied territories completely uninhabitable.
Dr Kear says he believes this to be the case.
“For conservative zionists, really hardcore zionists. The point of the occupation is to make life unbearable for Palestinians so they leave. So this could be construed as another, the Zionist or the hyper Zionists within the Israeli government are seeing this as an opportunity to ethnically cleanse the occupied territories.”
The co-author of the bill, Sharren Haskel claims the legislation is against terrorism.
“This legislation is disconnecting the relationship between Israel and between this organization. They will not be able to facilitate their activities or their infrastructures or their headquarters in Israel. If the United Nations is not willing to clean this organization from terrorism, from Hamas activists, then we have to take measures to make sure they cannot harm our people ever again.”
But the State of Palestine's representative in the General Assembly says Israel has disrespected the United Nations and the rule of law for too long.
“Israel is also at war with the UN at the heart of the international law based order, killing and maiming UN staff at levels never seen in the history of this organization, detaining them, torturing them, bombing UN shelters, declaring the Secretary General persona non grata, and while we're sitting here passing legislation to destroy a UN agency UNRWA, in an attempt to deny further the rights of Palestine Refugees and to deprive the Palestinian population who relies on UNRWA for the essentials they need to survive.”
He says that to Israel, anyone in Palestine is guilty.
“Well maybe the truth is that these rules apply only to some, not to others. Israeli perpetrators always shielded for their breaches of the law, and Palestinian victims always denied the protection of the law. It seems there are some who need to inquire, what is the religion of the victim and what is the religion of the perpetrator? What is their respective race, their skin colours, their national origin, to know what level of outrage they should display, if any. To know if they can call for accountability, or they can't. “
