A fresh crisis

Israel’s parliament voted on Monday to ban UNRWA, the UN agency caring for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, from operating in annexed East Jerusalem and occupied West Bank and Gaza. This ban, which comes into effect in 90 days, will block the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and cut food, education, health care, and welfare services to 2.5 million UNRWA registered Palestinian refugees living under Israeli rule.

The agency is responsible for a total of 5.9 million when refugees hosted by Lebanon, Jordan and Syria are counted. This amounts to more than 40 per cent of the 14.6 million Palestinians in the world. No combination of other humanitarian agencies can assume UNRWA’s mandate and responsibilities.

The Knesset approved two private member bills submitted by lawmakers from right-wing Yisrael Beytenu and centre-right Likud. These bills revoke a 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA enabling the agency to operate in territories held by Israel. Without authorisation, Israel will cease issuing permits to enter these areas as it controls all access to the occupied Palestinian territories.

The pretext for barring UNRWA is that some of its 13,000 staff members in Gaza were among Hamas fighters who took part in the Oct.7, 2023, attack on southern Israel during which 1,139 were killed and 250 abducted.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that implementation of the bills would be a “catastrophe.” European Commission foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned that banning UNRWA will “have disastrous consequences.” This legislation will prevent UNRWA “from continuing to provide its services and protection to Palestine refugees in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza,” Borrell stated.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on October 13th warning of an arms embargo on Israel if it continues to obstruct aid reaching Gaza. They expressed deep concern over the adoption of the UNRWA legislation and urged the recipients to “take all possible steps with lawmakers or using the authorities of the Prime Minister’s Office to ensure this does not come to pass.” Blinken and Austin demanded Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu refuse to allow the bills to pass. He did not listen. He has long been a critic and opponent of UNRWA.

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Britain, Norway and other UNRWA supporters have expressed alarm over Israel’s intentions toward UNRWA.

Although Netanyahu led the campaign against UNRWA, he knows that these bills could create a humanitarian disaster in areas served by the agency and ignite a fresh crisis with the international community which has been sharply critical of Israel for obstructing the entry and distribution of desperately needed aid to Gaza.

Writing from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, The UN Development Programme chief Chitose Noguchi stated, “The state of Palestine is experiencing unprecedented levels of setbacks. For Gaza, reversing development by an estimated 70 years to 1955.”

During Israel’s 1948-49 war of establishment, 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes in the 78 per cent of Palestine initially occupied by Israel. More than 200,000 found refuge in the 361-square kilometre narrow coastal tract of territory captured by Egypt. This became known as the Gaza Strip. By the war’s end 20 towns and villages survived in the Gaza Strip while 49 in the Gaza Subdistrict were subjected to Israel conquest, depopulation, and destruction. Palestinians from another 100 cities, towns and villages also sought refuge in the Gaza Strip. Many believed they would be allowed to go home once hostilities ceased. The 80,000 Gazans were overwhelmed by the influx.

Initially, the refugees sheltered in mosques, schools, homes, military barracks and tents erected in open areas. Hundreds died during the exceptionally cold winter of 1948-49. The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organisation, assumed responsibility for relief and established eight camps on land allocated by the Egyptian authorities. These camps were taken over by UNRWA, a unique agency established by the General Assembly in December 1949 which began operations in May 1950. Unlike the UN High Commission for Refugees which provided temporarily for refugees from multiple conflicts and natural disasters, UNRWA served one national group whose country had been conquered and colonised by Israel with the backing of prevailing Western powers.

UNRWA’S urgent tasks were to build 48,000 basic shelters and provide food rations and health care. The agency employed Palestinians to run its services and added primary and secondary education and vocational training. By 1955, UNRWA had built solid infrastructure and expanded its programmes to meet the needs of the original refugees and their progeny whose number had grown to about 225,000. During the 1950s the agency struggled to secure funding to meet the needs of the refugees. Israel’s allies, the US and its Western partners, exerted pressure by denying them decent conditions with the aim of compelling them to settle permanently in host countries. This effort failed. Today there are 2.3 million people in Gaza, 1.7 million are refugees. Ninety per cent of Gazans have been displaced by Israel’s year long war.

Israel wants to get rid of UNRWA. Israel claims UNRWA perpetuates Palestinian refugeedom. This is wrong. Israel has created and has perpetuated the Palestinian refugee problem by refusing to adopt the internationally mandated two-state solution which would provide Palestinian refugees with a homeland. UNRWA gives Palestinian refugees status and care which cannot be provided by the still non-existent State of Palestine which has been recognised by 146 of 193 UN members, or 75 per cent of the total, and became a non-member UN General Assembly observer state in November 2012.

Photo: TNS