Israel reminds UNRWA it must end operations in Jerusalem and leave premises by Jan. 30
UN envoy Danny Danon officially updates Guterres after Knesset passed legislation last year; UNRWA chief Lazzarini has said agency will ‘stay and deliver’ services where possible

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, must end operations and leave all its “premises” in Jerusalem by January 30, Israel’s UN ambassador said Friday, affirming timelines set out in controversial legislation passed last year.
Despite widespread international opposition, Israeli lawmakers in October passed two bills that essentially bar the UN agency from operating in Israel, and severely curtail its activities in Gaza and the West Bank.
Without coordination with Israel, it will be almost impossible for UNRWA to work in Gaza or the West Bank, since Jerusalem would no longer be issuing entrance permits to those territories or allowing coordination with the IDF. Israel also currently controls access to Gaza from Egypt, with Israeli forces deployed along the border between them.
The agency has faced criticism from Israel that has escalated since the war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught on southern Israel, including claims that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the deadly assault.
Israel alleges that more than 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.
Israeli ambassador Danny Danon wrote to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Friday, “UNRWA is required to cease its operations in Jerusalem and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city no later than 30 January 2025.”

UNRWA — short for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — provides education, health care and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The UN says it is the backbone of humanitarian operations for Palestinians.
Israel had been extremely critical of UNRWA long before the Hamas invasion and slaughter in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, saying that its near uniqueness in the world — granting refugee status not just to the first generation of refugees but to their descendants — perpetuated the conflict and a culture of dependence among Palestinians.
It also accuses UNRWA schools of fomenting anti-Israel and antisemitic beliefs.
While East Jerusalem has long been an administrative hub for the agency, it also runs schools and health clinics in the sector.
Israel has also passed a law that prohibits contact between Israeli officials and UNRWA, but its parliament has not banned UNRWA from operating in Gaza or the West Bank.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said earlier this month that the agency planned to “stay and deliver” services in areas where it can operate.
But having “no bureaucratic or operational relation,” with Israel “makes your operational environment even more challenging,” he said.
In February, the IDF revealed the existence of a subterranean Hamas data center directly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza Strip headquarters. The IDF has also repeatedly targeted Hamas command centers and gunmen hiding out in UNRWA schools.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.