A Report by Rami Samara – Translated From WAFA News: The Israeli Knesset is expected to vote within hours on the second and third readings of two bills that threaten the future of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The first bill concerns banning UNRWA’s operations in occupied Jerusalem, while the second involves revoking the privileges and immunities granted to the agency’s staff. If approved, they will be sent directly to the Israeli government for implementation.
Ahmad Abu Holi, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and head of the Refugee Affairs Department, told Wafa News Agency that the approval of these laws would mean declaring war on UNRWA to end its role, as a prelude to eliminating the refugee issue.
He pointed out that Israel’s adoption of the decisions by the Knesset and Israeli government would initially involve voiding the “Comay-McLemore” agreement signed in 1967 with the UN agency and Israel, obliging Tel Aviv to facilitate UNRWA’s tasks, protect its premises, ensure the freedom of movement of its staff, and grant them immunity.
“This means withdrawing UNRWA’s privileges, not dealing with the institution, closing its offices, revoking its staff’s permits, and freezing their bank accounts,” Abu Holi stated, “This will have a direct impact primarily on the agency’s center in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, and the schools, clinics, and services it provides to 200,000 Palestinian refugees in the city and its surroundings (Shu’fat and Qalandia refugee camps, Silwan, and the Indian Corner).”
Abu Holi stressed that “labeling UNRWA and its staff as terrorists by the occupying forces will not be limited to Jerusalem but will extend in the long term to affect the services provided by the agency in 19 refugee camps in the West Bank, threatening the future of education, health, community services, and infrastructure.”
This is in addition to the deliberate targeting of the agency’s schools, premises, and shelters in the Gaza Strip, where 231 UN staff members have been killed so far in the ongoing extermination war.
He added that the Israeli government’s implementation of the “Anti-Terrorism” law passed in 2016 will allow it to pursue UNRWA staff in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, totaling 18,000 employees, in addition to the obstacles that will be placed in the way of receiving their salaries, which will consequently affect their ability to provide their humanitarian role in delivering educational, health, and relief services.
He mentioned that the occupation aims to shift the burden of 6 million Palestinian refugees onto the host countries, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, meaning that these countries will bear all the responsibility for the refugee community after stripping UNRWA of this task.
This also implies an attempt to settle them in their current locations or push them to new displacement by placing them in an impossible living situation both materially and service-wise.
“There are 300,000 students receiving education in UNRWA schools. Where will they go when the war stops while the schools are destroyed and there is no budget for education? UNRWA clinics receive more than 4 million visits annually from patients, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with chronic diseases,” Abu Holy stressed, “Where will they go in the face of the closure and destruction of UNRWA premises? There are 1.4 million Palestinian refugees receiving food aid from UNRWA, which is a primary source for many. Where will they get their food? This is a new war titled starvation, thirst, exhaustion, and ignorance.”
He confirmed that when Israel decided to wage war on UNRWA and delegitimize it in the Knesset, it primarily targeted the refugee community and the Palestinian people. This has other dimensions, most importantly legal, as the agency was established under UN Resolution 302 of 1949, representing an international commitment from the world towards its failure to implement Resolution 194 concerning the right of return, compensation, and property restitution.
Abu Holi said that UNRWA was established solely for the Palestinian refugee community with its legal dimension, as its establishment under Resolution 302 by the UN General Assembly is linked to Resolution 194 adopted by the same body, meaning that the agency must continue its work until a politically agreed solution for the refugees is reached.
Regarding reports indicating Israel’s efforts to merge UNRWA’s authority with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Abu Holi explained that the latter would strip Palestinian refugees of their legal status, thus depriving them of their political rights and limiting their issue to a humanitarian aspect.
He clarified: “All refugees in the world can return to their homelands at any moment, but for Palestinians, Israel refuses the return of any refugee to their home or town. Therefore, it wants to integrate them into another international framework responsible for 100 million people worldwide, making them mere numbers without legal, political, or service rights.”
The UNHCR, officially known as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, was established by the UN General Assembly in 1950, following World War II, to help millions of people who lost their homes.
The UNHCR operates in 136 countries, providing life-saving assistance, including shelter, food, water, and medical care, to people forced to flee due to conflicts and persecution, enabling them to rebuild their lives, according to its declaration on its website.
On July 22, 2024, the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved in the first reading three bills: the first classifies UNRWA as a “terrorist organization,” the second cancels the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the agency and its staff, and the third bans UNRWA in “Israel’s sovereign territories.”
On September 29, 2024, the committee met and merged the first two bills, softening the content by removing the classification of UNRWA as a terrorist organization to avoid criticism from UN member states.
On October 6, 2024, the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved the merged bills and the third bill in the second and third readings.
The Knesset Speaker set a session on October 28, 2024, to vote on the second and third (final) readings of the proposed bills to become effective laws.
In a preemptive step, the “Israel Land Authority” announced on October 10, 2024, the seizure of the land on which UNRWA’s headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, converting the site into a colonial outpost comprising 1,440 housing units before the final vote on the bills by the Israeli Knesset.
The bills include:
Canceling the agreement of “Comay Letters” of 1967 between UNRWA and Israel, under which the latter agrees to facilitate UNRWA’s tasks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including the protection and security of UNRWA staff and facilities, the freedom of movement of UNRWA vehicles and staff across Israel and to the occupied Palestinian territories, and tax exemptions.
Revoking the privileges and immunities granted to UNRWA (staff, premises, and facilities).
Cutting off any contact with or on behalf of UNRWA.
Banning UNRWA from operating any representation, services, or activities in Israel’s sovereign territories.
Taking punitive measures against UNRWA staff, including those related to the events of October 7, 2023, or the “Iron Swords” war, or any other punitive measures under the Israeli Anti-Terrorism Law of 2016.
After the final vote on the bills, UNRWA will face practical implementation measures on the ground by the Israeli occupation government, including:
Banning the agency from operating in occupied Jerusalem, instructing the occupation police to enforce the ban by closing the agency’s offices and schools in Jerusalem and its neighborhoods.
Implementing the decision to evacuate UNRWA from lands belonging to the Israel Land Authority and canceling lease contracts in Sheikh Jarrah, Kafr Aqab, and Shu’fat refugee camp, the only refugee camp in East Jerusalem, which will have serious repercussions affecting 110,000 Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem, as well as UNRWA schools, clinics, and relief centers.
Implementing the decision of the Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to cancel the tax benefits granted to UNRWA as a UN agency and cutting off contact with Israeli banks, putting UNRWA in a critical financial situation, making it difficult to transfer donor funds and pay its staff salaries in the future.
The laws will give the green light to the Israeli occupation army in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as is practiced in the Gaza Strip, to target UNRWA facilities during invasions of Palestinian refugee camps, and to enable illegal paramilitary colonizers to attack UNRWA facilities and staff, as the decision removes their diplomatic immunity.
From a legal and international perspective, if the two bills are passed in the final reading, they will represent a dangerous precedent, an assault on the United Nations and its agencies and charter (including Articles 2 and 105), a violation of international norms and conventions, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, and a breach of relevant UN General Assembly resolutions on the immunities and protection of international organizations, including the establishment of UNRWA under Resolution 302 according to Article 17, and the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.
The laws also constitute a clear and public violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2730, issued on May 24, 2024, which obliges Israel to respect and protect UN institutions and humanitarian workers.
The laws contradict the International Court of Justice’s ruling and legal opinion issued on July 19, 2024, which confirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories, including occupied Jerusalem, which is part of UNRWA’s operations.
