Palestine denounces Israeli decision to cancel agreement recognizing UNRWA

ISTANBUL

Palestinians have decried an Israeli decision to withdraw from a 1967 agreement that recognizes the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Israel officially informed the UN on Sunday of its decision to withdraw from the agreement regarding the UNRWA, citing "security concerns."

Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh accused Israel of "ignoring all international norms, charters, resolutions and international humanitarian law," according to the official news agency Wafa.

He said that Israel’s targeting of UNRWA was aimed at "eliminating the right of return and obstructing its activities and role."

Abu Rudeineh called on the international community “to take serious and tangible steps on the ground against Israel," and to hold it responsible for the repercussions of its decision.

Palestinian resistance group Hamas called the Israeli decision on UNRWA “a disregard and contempt for the UN system."

It called the Israeli decision an attempt to "obliterate the international and UN witness to the Palestinian refugees cause."

Hamas urged the international community to stand firmly against the Israeli decision which "defies international legitimacy."

In a letter addressed to UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang, the Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that the withdrawal relates to the 1967 agreement concerning UNRWA’s operations in support of Palestinian refugees.

On Oct. 28, 92 members of the 120-seat Israeli Knesset, or parliament, voted in favor of a ban on activities of UNRWA in the occupied Palestinian territories, a move that was widely condemned worldwide including by European and Western countries and international organizations.

Israel has accused UNRWA employees of complicity in last year’s Hamas attack, alleging that the agency’s educational programs “promote terrorism and hatred.”

UNRWA, headquartered in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, denies the accusations and asserts that it remains neutral, solely focusing on supporting refugees.

Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 43,400 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar