Australia is one of a host of countries condemning Israel after it declared the United Nations body responsible for delivering aid to Gaza a terrorist organisation.
The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed two laws this morning targeting United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The pieces of legislation ban the organisation from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel, sever diplomatic ties with it, and deem it a terror organisation.
The laws do not come into immediate effect, although are set to be implemented within the next 90 days.
A host of Israel’s allies, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia have condemned the move.
“UNRWA does life-saving work,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.
“Australia opposes the Israeli Knesset’s decision to severely restrict UNRWA’s work.”
The US State Department said it was “deeply concerned” by the legislation, adding its passage could have consequences under US law and policy, while UK Prime Sir Keir Starmer was “gravely concerned”.
“This legislation risks making UNRWA’s essential work for Palestinians impossible, jeopardising the entire international humanitarian response in Gaza and delivery of essential health and education services in the West Bank,” he said.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is simply unacceptable. We need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of the hostages and a significant increase in aid to Gaza.”
The head of UNRWA, Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, called the move “unprecedented” and said it “will only deepen the suffering Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell”.
Other aid agencies have also condemned the move.
“Israel has bombed Palestinians to death, maimed them, starved them, and is now ridding them of their biggest lifeline of aid,” Oxfam Regional Director in the Middle East and North Africa Sally Abi Khalil said.
“Piece by piece, Israel is systemically dismantling Gaza as a land that is autonomous and liveable for Palestinians.
“Its banning of UNRWA today is condemnable and another step in this crime.
“The decision will further undermine the ability of the international community to provide sufficient humanitarian aid and to save lives in any safe, independent and impartial way.”
Israel has alleged that some of UNRWA’s thousands of staff members participated in the Hamas attacks last year that sparked the war in Gaza.
It also has said hundreds of UNRWA staff have militant ties and that it has found Hamas military assets near or under the agency’s facilities.
The agency fired nine employees after an investigation but denies it knowingly aids armed groups and says it acts quickly to purge any suspected militants from its ranks.
Some of Israel’s allegations prompted major international donors to cut funding to the agency, although some of it has been restored.
Gaza’s population of some 2.3 million is almost entirely dependent on aid, which has been declining in recent months, to survive.
Around 90 per cent of the population has been displaced.
Hundreds of thousands live in tent camps and schools-turned-shelters, most run by UNRWA. Experts say hunger is rampant.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7 attack has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and militants.
– with Associated Press
