Israel informs UN that 1967 agreement recognizing UNRWA is void

The Foreign Ministry has officially informed the UN that Israel is withdrawing from the 1967 agreement recognizing Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, after the Knesset passed legislation to severely limit the operations of the agency in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Foreign Ministry Director-General Jacob Blitshtein sent the letter to UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang of Cameroon, informing him that “Israel will continue to work with international partners, including other United Nations agencies, to ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not undermine Israel’s security. Israel expects the United Nations to contribute to and cooperate in this effort.”

Last week, the Knesset passed a bill banning UNRWA from operating from Israeli territory and forbidding Israeli government agencies from working with UNRWA. The bill takes effect in three months.

“UNRWA — the organization whose employees participated in the October 7th massacre and many of whose employees are Hamas operatives — is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution,” says Foreign Minister Israel Katz. “The UN was presented with endless evidence about Hamas operatives working at UNRWA and about the use of UNRWA facilities for terror purposes and nothing was done about it.”

Katz also notes that only 13% of the aid to Gaza currently goes through UNRWA, and argues the idea that there is no alternative to UNRWA is a fiction.