Adnan Abu Hasna: A severe blow to UNRWA’s presence in the Palestinian territories as part of a broader campaign to turn the page on the refugee issue

Nasser Shrai'a: Ending UNRWA's work means a sharp reduction in its basic services that refugees depend on in their daily lives

Dr. Muhammad Al-Aboushi: Confronting the Israeli decision requires unifying the Palestinian ranks and coordinating efforts between the official and popular levels

Issam Bakr: The Israeli decision is a blatant violation of international norms and conventions and will expose the camps to a real disaster, reaching all Palestinians

Akram Atallah: What is required is to intensify diplomatic efforts to mobilize a firm international stance that besieges Israel and prevents it from striking UNRWA and its role.

Sari Samour: The decision comes within the framework of Israel's efforts to liquidate the refugee issue, and Israeli measures will accelerate to undermine the work of UNRWA

In an unprecedented historical targeting of international institutions operating in the Palestinian territories, the Israeli parliament (Knesset) approved, last night, a law that finally bans the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Israel, stipulating that “UNRWA shall not operate any representative office, shall not provide any service, and shall not carry out any activity, directly or indirectly.”

Officials, writers and political analysts confirmed, in separate interviews with “I”, that the Israeli law passed by the Knesset contradicts legal and international agreements signed since 1967, which guaranteed UNRWA extensive facilities, including freedom of movement and travel in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and in the Gaza Strip, and the protection of its immunity and tax exemptions. The decision is likely to deepen the crisis and hinder the provision of basic services to refugees, which may lead to humanitarian crises that double their suffering.

They consider this decision to be part of a broader strategy aimed at closing the refugee file and undermining the basis of the two-state solution, stressing the importance of confronting the new Israeli law by unifying the efforts of official, popular, factional Palestinian institutions and civil society, with a focus on international action to stop the attacks on the UN agency, and strengthening international alliances to ensure that UNRWA remains an international symbol of Palestinian rights, foremost among which is the right of return for refugees.

Undermining legal and international understandings

Adnan Abu Hasna, media advisor to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), believes that the recent decision voted on by the Israeli Knesset threatens to undermine all legal and international understandings that have allowed UNRWA to exist for decades, as the decision includes fundamental restrictions that contradict the document signed between UNRWA and Israel in 1967.

Abu Hasna points out that this document included an Israeli commitment to facilitate the agency’s work and ensure its immunity and tax exemptions, in addition to its freedom of movement and travel in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

Abu Hasna points out that the Knesset’s approval of the ban on UNRWA’s work in East Jerusalem will have profound repercussions that go beyond the agency’s direct scope of work, explaining that implementing this will mean restricting the agency’s operations and hindering the provision of basic services to refugees, which will severely impact the political and legal situation in the region.

Abu Hasna describes the Israeli decision as a "severe blow" to UNRWA's presence in the Palestinian territories, both in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, where large numbers of refugees depend on the agency's services in the areas of education and health.

Widespread international criticism

On the international level, Abu Hasna points out that the decision has been widely criticized, as the foreign ministers of Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom expressed their “deep concern” about the Israeli legislation in a joint statement, and even the US administration sent messages urging the Israeli government not to proceed with implementing the decision due to its negative repercussions on stability in the region.

Abu Hasna expects that the implementation of the Israeli decision will lead to broad international and UN moves, with the possibility of presenting the file to the UN Security Council, as this step constitutes a dangerous precedent at the level of the United Nations, as no member has ever banned the work of an international organization in this regard.

Abu Hasna believes that this targeting of UNRWA comes within a broader campaign aimed at turning the page on the refugee issue and ending talk of the right of return, in addition to eliminating the basis of the two-state solution as a political framework.

Abu Hasna points out that Israel has forgotten that international resolutions related to refugee rights, including the right of return and compensation, were issued since 1948, i.e. before the establishment of UNRWA itself in 1949, which means that these rights go beyond the agency itself.

Abu Hasna expects collective action within the UN General Assembly, in addition to actions at the level of the International Court of Justice, in an effort to enhance the legal protection of UN agencies, stressing that the decision approved by the Knesset represents a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights.

An unprecedented existential threat to the UN agency

Nasser Shraya, director of the Executive Office for Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank of the Palestine Liberation Organization, confirms that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is facing an unprecedented existential threat, especially after the recent escalation in the Palestinian territories following October 7.

Shara'a points out that the Israeli occupation authorities are taking escalatory steps against the agency, in conjunction with the continuation of the war of genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Shara'a points out that despite the supportive positions issued by international organizations and decisions issued by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, the international community has not yet succeeded in stopping this systematic attack, which is publicly supported by the United States and other Western countries, which reinforces the occupation's insistence on escalation.

Shara'a expressed his concern about the recent Israeli decision targeting UNRWA's presence, especially in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, noting that this decision represents a serious threat to the agency's existence in light of what he described as international and Arab silence, and the absence of institutions defending refugees and service institutions that provide their support through UNRWA.

UNRWA's financial drain is a clear violation of Resolution 302

Shara'a points out that the Israeli decision, which was recently approved by the Knesset, aims to classify UNRWA as a "terrorist organization" and attempt to end its work, which means preventing it from operating in the West Bank and Gaza, and criminalizing its activities and employees. The law also includes demanding that UNRWA pay huge sums of money under the pretext of using its headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah from its founding until today. This is a measure that aims, according to Shara'a, to drain the agency financially, in clear violation of Resolution 302, which established UNRWA and guaranteed it privileges and immunities that allow it to provide its services in its five areas of operation, according to the agreement signed between the United Nations and Israel in 1967.

He stressed that this decision has major repercussions on the lives of Palestinian refugees, pointing out that nearly 800,000 refugees in the West Bank and 1.3 million refugees in the Gaza Strip depend on UNRWA services on a daily basis. These services include education for 550,000 students in 750 schools, health care through 140 health centers and hospitals, in addition to social support programs and the provision of job opportunities.

Shrai'a stressed that ending UNRWA's work in the West Bank and Gaza means a sharp reduction in these basic services that refugees depend on in their daily lives.

Weak international reactions

Shara'a expressed his disappointment at the weak international reactions to the Israeli decision, explaining that several countries have cut their funding to UNRWA based on Israeli allegations, which makes it unlikely that these countries will take firm positions against the recent Israeli decision.

Shara'a cites Israel's long-standing hostile stance towards UNRWA, with Israel beginning its incitement against the agency in retaliation for the UN Secretary-General's positions, which were used as a basis for pursuing Israel internationally on charges of committing genocide.

Shara'a believes that the Israeli incitement against UNRWA aims to cover up the occupation's crimes against the Palestinians, especially after targeting UNRWA schools and clinics where the displaced sought refuge to escape the occupation's bombing.

The importance of confronting the Israeli decision

Regarding the future of UNRWA, Shara'a stresses the importance of Palestinians confronting the Israeli decision, especially in refugee camps that depend on the agency's services.

Shara'a stresses the need for the Palestinian leadership and the PLO to pressure donor countries to stop the Israeli targeting of UNRWA, in addition to mobilizing refugees to exert public pressure against this decision, especially in Jerusalem, where 140,000 refugees receive their services from UNRWA in the Shuafat and Qalandia camps and schools and clinics inside the Old City of Jerusalem.

Shara'a stresses that UNRWA is an international institution established by a UN resolution, and that its existence will continue until it achieves its goal of returning Palestinian refugees to their lands.

Gradually end the role of UNRWA

The head of the Palestinian NGO Network, Dr. Mohammed Al-Aboushi, believes that the Israeli Knesset’s decision to oppose UNRWA constitutes a blatant challenge to international legitimacy, as it is a withdrawal of legitimacy from the United Nations and a clear attempt to control its institutions and resources, in complete disregard for its decisions related to the rights of Palestinian refugees and their human rights.

Al-Aboushi believes that this decision seeks to gradually end the role of UNRWA, a step that comes after the Israeli occupation authorities took control of the agency’s headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem, in the context of broader Israeli efforts to disrupt its services and cancel its actual role, which was to support Palestinian refugees over decades.

Regarding confronting this decision, Al-Aboushi calls for intensifying efforts at the international level, stressing that the United Nations’ responsibility towards Palestinian refugees has not ended, as the Palestinian people are still in dire need of the services provided by UNRWA, which represent the least human rights that this people who were forcibly displaced from their land deserve.

Al-Aboushi points out the need to emphasize this international responsibility that the United Nations must assume as part of its international obligations.

In the context of the role of the NGO Network, Al-Aboushi stresses the importance of coordination between the various Palestinian parties, especially the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in addition to working to activate the issue with the network’s allies from the relevant international institutions.

He believes that confronting the Israeli decision requires unifying the Palestinian ranks by coordinating efforts between the official and popular levels, and the participation of factions and civil society, in a way that reflects a comprehensive and strong Palestinian position.

Building a regional and international alliance

Al-Aboushi considers the UNRWA issue to be of great importance, as it relates to the Palestinian people’s right to return and obtain basic services, and it is a responsibility that falls on the shoulders of the international community, which must not abandon it.

Al-Aboushi calls for building a regional and international alliance that includes Arab and Islamic countries, in addition to friendly countries that support the Palestinian cause, in order to create a strong position that confronts this unjust decision that targets Palestinian refugees and threatens their historical and human rights.

The agency's targeting extends back many years.

Issam Bakr, a member of the Coordination Committee of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine and a member of the National Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return, confirms that “targeting UNRWA with all its symbolism as a witness to the Nakba and the crime that befell our people in 1948 extends back many years, and one of the most important milestones in it was the announcement of the so-called (Deal of the Century), which aims, among other things, to liquidate the national cause of the Palestinian people in its entirety.”

Bakr believes that there is a connection between UNRWA’s continued work in providing its services to the refugee population in its five areas of operation and the fact that it represents a temporary framework until the right of return is achieved, and the right is achieved according to UN Resolution 194.

According to Bakr, the legislation to ban UNRWA represents the most extreme actual measure on the ground to stop its services, after the financial crisis worsened due to the occupation’s efforts to dry up its sources of funding, and then comes the decision that will have serious repercussions on the refugee community in the occupied Palestinian territories or its areas of operation abroad.

On the other hand, Bakr believes that despite the international policy of double standards, the growth of international public opinion condemning the occupation policies, and the availability of an international climate supporting the Palestinian cause, is now ready to work at a different and distinct pace in terms of protecting the international institution and restoring consideration to its role, including preserving international security and peace, which is exposed to a continuous and blatant threat at all levels by the occupying power.

Imposing direct sanctions on the occupying power

Bakr calls for taking concrete steps to reject the Israeli decision, which represents a blatant challenge to international will, and then taking clear measures related to freezing the membership of the occupying state in the United Nations in light of the war crimes it is committing and the measures it is taking against the agency, seizing its headquarters, closing, pursuing, and targeting its workers, and attempts to remove it from the law and describe it as a "terrorist" organization, despite the fact that international law confirms that occupation is the highest level of terrorism.

Bakr stresses the need to work with international will to impose direct sanctions on the occupying power, including boycotting the Israeli Knesset, and to address the world in a clear and obvious manner to not comply with the occupation’s narrative and its falsification of the facts, and to side with the right to correct historical injustice by implementing international resolutions, including Resolution 194, which stipulates the right of return and compensation for refugees for the losses they have suffered over the past years, and to support Palestinian rights by recognizing the State of Palestine and the sovereignty of the Palestinian people over their land.

Bakr stresses that the Israeli decision is a blatant violation of all international norms and conventions on the basis of which UNRWA was established after the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people and their forced displacement from their land in one of the most heinous ethnic cleansing operations in contemporary history.

Bakr believes that the decision and the danger it entails carry the risk of eliminating the agency and ending its work completely, as part of attempts to erase the camp from the rich and vivid memory of the Palestinian people, considering it a temporary stop on the road to return, by depriving the camp of the basic services necessary for life.

Bakr confirms that if the decision is implemented, the camps will be seriously affected, threatening a real disaster that will extend beyond the refugee population, but will include the entire Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, Bakr stresses that the Palestinian people cannot accept or deal with any ideas or proposals of this kind, as their political, national and popular rejection is the basic foundation for harmony and integration that must include the popular committees in the camps, the Department of Refugee Affairs in the PLO, and the unions, institutions and political forces, of course.

Bakr holds the occupation government fully responsible for the repercussions that this decision could have, because the refugee has only one face, which is return and rejection of settlement projects. This goal is ingrained in the minds and hearts of generations, generation after generation, until this right is achieved, which is not negotiable or negotiable and is guaranteed by all international resolutions.

Besieging Israel and preventing it from striking UNRWA

Writer and political analyst Akram Atallah believes that the Israeli Knesset’s approval of the anti-UNRWA law in the West Bank and Gaza Strip comes at a critical historical moment since the events of October 7, as Israel is exploiting this timing to implement an old project that is renewed with every opportunity.

Atallah points out that in 2020, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the abolition of UNRWA, and at the time led a pressure campaign on former US President Donald Trump that led to the cutting of US funding for it, which was considered at the time the beginning of a strategic attack on the international institution.

Atallah believes that this Israeli move carries deep political implications, as Israel is targeting one of the pillars of international support for Palestinian refugees. The agency, which was originally established to provide relief and employment services to refugees, has today become a symbol of international support for their cause.

In the event of the loss of UNRWA, Atallah warns of an unprecedented deterioration in the conditions of Palestinian refugees, which will lead to a lack of social and political security for them as a result of their loss of a major support that gives an international character to their cause.

Gradual shift in global attitudes

Regarding international reactions, Atallah highlights a gradual shift in global positions, explaining that international support for Israel was strong after October 7, as the world witnessed a broad wave of sympathy with Israel, including unhesitating decisions in support of it. However, some European countries have recently begun to withdraw this support, as seven European countries announced their rejection of the cancellation of UNRWA.

Atallah believes that this rejection may be an indication of the possibility of a shift in international positions, but he points out that there is a fear that these positions will remain within the framework of statements without taking tangible practical steps to pressure Israel.

Atallah points out that Israel is exploiting allegations that UNRWA employees have connections to Hamas as an excuse to bolster Israel’s long-standing efforts to disrupt the agency’s work. Israel repeatedly uses these allegations at every opportunity, seeking to convince the international community of the need to abolish UNRWA in order to achieve its strategic goals.

Regarding the Palestinian reaction, Atallah describes the Palestinians’ ability to confront the decision as having become weaker, given the field and political challenges they face.

However, Atallah stresses that the Palestinians still have an opportunity to resort to international institutions, such as the United Nations and the Security Council, to request clear international support to confront the Israeli attack on UNRWA.

Atallah believes that the only option left for the Palestinians is to intensify diplomatic and international efforts to mobilize a firm position from the international community that besieges Israel and prevents it from continuing this deliberate policy of undermining UNRWA and its role.

A step towards the effective elimination of the agency's role

Writer and political analyst Sari Samour believes that the Israeli Knesset’s decision to oppose UNRWA constitutes a step towards the effective elimination of the agency’s role in the Palestinian territories, as Israel has relied on legal tools within its legislative system to legislate its restrictions on UNRWA’s activities, which threatens the future of the agency’s work and greatly complicates it, especially in areas such as Jerusalem, which increases the risks of criminalizing its employees and prosecuting them legally.

Samour points out that this decision is not the first in a series of restrictions; UNRWA has been subjected to successive harassment, which began years ago and included restricting its activities and exposing its headquarters to bombing in the Gaza Strip, and today, legal steps were taken with the aim of ending its existence completely.

According to Samour, this decision is expected to complicate UNRWA's operations more broadly in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, as there will not be physical targeting such as bombing, but rather it will be targeted with extremely complex legal and administrative procedures that will prevent it from providing its services as it used to.

The international community may express limited condemnation.

As for international reactions, Samour believes that the international community may express limited condemnation, but he does not expect any effective measures against Israel to stop the decision, recalling that former US President Donald Trump stood by Israel in its position on UNRWA, as he supported stopping its funding at the time, which contributed to greatly reducing its role.

Samour expects that if Trump returns to power, Israeli measures to undermine UNRWA’s work will accelerate by enacting additional laws that limit its role, while the arrival of a Democratic administration, even if Kamala Harris is elected, will not lead to real pressure on Israel to back down from this decision, which came in anticipation of the results of the US presidential elections.

Samour believes that the decision comes within the framework of Israel's efforts to gradually liquidate the Palestinian refugee issue by eliminating UNRWA, which is an international symbol of the refugee issue and their right to return.

Samour believes that this Israeli approach is being carried out with great boldness, especially in light of the absence of strict international reactions, noting that the UN agency has put increasing pressure on its employees, preventing them from engaging in any political role and imposing sanctions on those who are arrested by the occupation. However, the agency has not been spared from being targeted by Israel, which is working hard to gradually reduce the influence of UNRWA until it ends its role.

Samour attributes part of this deterioration in UNRWA’s position to its heavy reliance on American funding, noting that this reliance has made it vulnerable to increasing American and Israeli pressure, while its funding should have been provided by more balanced international contributions to avoid these pressures.

Regarding the Palestinians’ ability to confront this decision, Samour believes that the tools available to them are very limited, expecting that their options will be limited to submitting complaints to the United Nations, a step he considers weak and ineffective.

Samour expects that Israel will pass this decision without obstacles, and that it will have clear repercussions in many areas, including the closure of the UNRWA headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, noting that the Palestinians may try to look for alternatives, but in the end they will be forced to adapt to the current situation due to the absence of sufficient pressure tools and the absence of countries that support them with real effectiveness.