Israel informed the chairman of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Philemon Yang, about the termination of cooperation with the UN Middle East Agency for Assistance to Palestinian Refugees and Works Organization (UNRWA). This was reported by the permanent representative of the Jewish state to the UN, Dani Danon.
«Following the adoption of the law on UNRWA, the State of Israel officially notified the President of the General Assembly about the termination of cooperation with this organization. Despite the numerous pieces of evidence we presented to the UN proving the takeover of UNRWA by [the radical Palestinian movement] Hamas, the UN did nothing to change the real situation. The State of Israel will continue to cooperate with humanitarian organizations, but not with organizations that serve terrorism directed against us», — he wrote on the social network X.
On October 28, the Knesset of Israel banned the activities of UNRWA in the country: 92 deputies voted for the adoption of this law, 10 opposed it. Now, in the territory of Israel, the organization cannot have representations, provide services, or conduct any activities directly or indirectly. Since Israel controls most of Palestine, as well as access to the region from Egypt, this decision could almost completely destroy the agency's work in the region.
At the beginning of the year, it became known about the involvement of agency employees in the attack on Israel, which was carried out by armed supporters of Hamas on October 7, 2023. The Government of Israel believes that many UNRWA workers are involved in the activities of the militant wing of the radical movement. The publication Wall Street Journal, citing intelligence data, claimed that 10% of UNRWA employees in Gaza — about 1200 people — are connected with Islamist groups in the region, and at least 12 of them were involved in the terrorist attack on October 7.