Breaking with Biden, Trump envoy expresses support for Israeli laws targeting UNRWA
US representative tells Security Council Jerusalem justified in effort to shutter UN agency over its ties to Hamas, rejects claims that doing so will spark humanitarian disaster
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Breaking with the previous Biden administration, the Trump administration came out on Tuesday in favor of Israeli legislation to sever Jerusalem’s ties with the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA and to severely restrict its operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
“It is Israel’s sovereign decision to close UNRWA’s offices in Jerusalem on January 30. The United States supports the implementation of this decision,” US chargé d’affaires ad interim Dorothy Shea said in remarks during the UN Security Council’s monthly session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Biden administration raised concerns over the extent to which Hamas has managed to infiltrate UNRWA and moved to freeze US funding to the agency following revelations that a number of its members actively participated in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
However, it came out against Congress’s decision to extend that freeze to this coming March — when lawmakers are expected to maintain the hold indefinitely.
Biden officials argued that UNRWA plays too essential of a role in Gaza’s humanitarian operations, and that it therefore should not be shuttered. It is behind many logistical aspects of aid delivery, including storage and transport.
The Knesset legislation passed last fall also bars Israeli officials from any contact with UNWRA, which the agency says will lead to the collapse of its operations in Gaza and the West Bank where coordination with Israeli authorities is essential.
Israel after passing the legislation said it would work with international organizations to ensure that a vacuum in the humanitarian effort would not be created by UNRWA’s departure, but Israeli officials have acknowledged to The Times of Israel that those preparations have not yet been completed as the law comes into place.
These concerns were not voiced by Trump’s interim envoy at the UN, who echoed Israeli stances questioning the UN’s objectivity.
“We are concerned about reports that returned Israeli hostages were held by Hamas in UN facilities during their prolonged captivity in Gaza. It is vital for a full and independent investigation to assess these very serious allegations,” Shea said. “Unfortunately, this follows a pattern of serious allegations on the misuse of UN facilities – particularly UNRWA facilities – by Hamas terrorists.”
For his part, UNRWA’s chief told the UN Security Council that the ban — due to come into effect on Thursday — would be disastrous and cripple the body’s work in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, claimed the ban would “heighten instability and deepen despair in the occupied Palestinian territory at a critical moment,” undermine the ceasefire in Gaza, and sabotage the enclave’s recovery and political transition.
“The relentless assault on UNRWA is harming the lives and future of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory. It is eroding their trust in the international community, jeopardizing any prospect for peace and security,” he contended.
Shea, in turn, criticized UNRWA for “exaggerating the effects” of the Knesset legislation by “irresponsibly and dangerously… suggesting that they will force the entire humanitarian response to halt.”
“What is needed is a nuanced discussion about how we can ensure that there is no interruption in the delivery of humanitarian aid and essential services,” the US envoy said.
“UNRWA is not — and never has been — the only option for providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Many other agencies have experience and expertise to do this work and have done this work,” she said, echoing the Israeli stance. “UNRWA’s work has been tainted and its credibility questioned due to the terrorist ties to Hamas that UNRWA staff had that were exposed as a result of Hamas’s October 7 attack.”
Shea still urged Security Council members to support the US, Qatari and Egyptian efforts to scale up aid into Gaza.
“We must ensure Hamas or other terrorist groups are not permitted to seize, divert, or profit from this assistance – and that if it does so, it is reported immediately and held accountable,” she said, adding that Gaza must all be fully demilitarized and without a governing role for Hamas.
Notably, Shea said the US is “strongly committed” to implementing the ceasefire and hostage release deal. It appeared to be one of the Trump administration’s firmest statements yet in support of implementing all three stages of the agreement, amid calls from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners to resume the war after the first phase ends next month.
“The United States is strongly committed to implementing the ceasefire agreement, so that the hostages can return home and the people of Gaza can look toward a brighter future under new leadership,” Shea said.
US President Donald Trump and his Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff have also spoken about the importance of returning all of the hostages, but the former has also said he’s not confident the ceasefire will hold.
Netanyahu says he has received assurances from Trump that the US will back Israel in resuming the war if Hamas violates the terms of the ceasefire or stops negotiating in good faith regarding the terms of the second phase. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has suggested that the premier has given him an assurance to resume fighting that isn’t conditional on whether Hamas violates the deal.
Shea — who is part of an interim staff running the US Mission to the UN until Trump’s nominee Rep. Elise Stefanik is confirmed by the Senate — was careful not to criticize Israel in her remarks or even suggest that Netanyahu is not supportive of sticking with the hostage deal.
The speech was overall a clear departure from the previous Biden administration, which also consistently sought to defend Israel at the UN, but did so while criticizing Israeli policy in the West Bank and for not doing enough to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza — and sometimes even exacerbating it.
Shea avoided criticizing Israel altogether, placing all of the onus for civilian casualties on Hamas.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said at a press conference that UNRWA must vacate all of its properties in Jerusalem.
“UNRWA must cease its operations and evacuate all premises it operates in Jerusalem.”
“Israel will terminate all communication with UNRWA or anyone acting on its behalf.”
Danon said the ban on UNRWA “was not a political decision. It was simply a necessary one.”
“UNRWA has failed in its mandate. It has failed the people who were supposed to benefit from its services.”
He said UNRWA “had failed to investigate the widespread infiltration of its ranks by Hamas and other terrorist organizations.”
“No sovereign state should facilitate operations of an agency that threatens its national security and blatantly violates its laws.”
Israel, he said, is ready to cooperate with other UN agencies “that are not tainted by terror.”
