On Monday evening, the Israeli Parliament approved, in the first reading, three draft laws declaring the United Nations Relief and Works Organization for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) a “terrorist organization,” banning its work in Israel, and stripping away the immunity granted to its employees.

The first draft law, which prevents the agency from operating in Israeli territory, was passed by a majority of 58 votes (out of 120 in the Knesset) to 9 votes, according to the Hebrew newspaper “The Times of Israel”.

The second resolution, which aims to strip UNRWA employees of the legal immunities and privileges granted to United Nations employees in Israel, was approved by a majority of 63 votes against 9 votes against.

The third resolution, which stipulates the classification of UNRWA as a terrorist organization and requires Israel to sever relations with it, was passed with 50 votes in favor and 10 votes against, according to the same source.

The three draft laws will be returned to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to prepare for the second and third readings necessary for the legislation to become law.

The vote was welcomed by a member of the Knesset from the Yisrael Beytenu party, Yulia Malinovsky, who presented the bill.

Malinowski said in a post on the “X” platform that “not a day goes by without the Israeli army spokesman publishing new results from the field linking UNRWA to terrorism.”

On May 26, the Knesset voted in preliminary reading on a draft law to sever ties with UNRWA and declare it a terrorist organization, coinciding with most Western countries’ retreat from cutting off funding for the agency after Tel Aviv failed to prove its allegations of the participation of its employees in the events of last October 7. .

Israel accuses UNRWA employees of contributing to the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attacks last October 7, and that “the agency’s education system supports terrorism and hatred.”

On that day, Hamas launched attacks on military bases and settlements near Gaza, in response to “the occupation’s daily crimes against the Palestinian people and their sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque,” according to the movement.

UNRWA, which has its headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, denies the validity of Israel's accusations against it, and confirms that it adheres to neutrality and focuses exclusively on supporting refugees.

The Palestinians’ need for UNRWA services is increasing in light of the war launched by Israel on Gaza since last October 7, which has left more than 128,000 Palestinians martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.

Tel Aviv continues the war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolutions to stop it immediately, and the orders of the International Court of Justice to end the invasion of Rafah (south), and to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the miserable humanitarian situation in Gaza.