PA warns Israel’s ban on UNRWA will stoke tensions as Palestinian refugees will lose services

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemns the Knesset’s decision to bar operations of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which was adopted in October and is slated to enter into force tomorrow.

In a statement, the spokesman calls the decision “unacceptable” and a “provocation” to the Palestinian people, and says that it will contribute to raising tensions in the region due to its impact on the services provided to Palestinian refugees.

He further accuses Israel of attempting to suppress the Palestinians’ “right of return” and “liquidate” the Palestinian refugee issue, and calls on the UN to pressure Israel to revert its decision.

UNRWA —  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.

Despite widespread international opposition, Israeli lawmakers in late 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.

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.

Israeli intelligence shared with the US assesses 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.