The Israeli government ban on UNRWA over national security concerns and links to terrorism began Jan. 30. UNRWA has called the move by Jerusalem as "disastrous."
The U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA said on Friday that if its humanitarian work in Gaza is forced to halt, it would put a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas at risk.
LONDON - Britain, France and Germany on J an 31 reiterated their “grave concern” over Israel implementing a law forbidding any contact between its officials and UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.
The directive came in a letter to the U.N., after the Israeli Parliament banned the relief agency that has aided Palestinian refugees for decades.
Israel demands UNRWA halt operations in Jerusalem by January 30, citing Hamas ties and security risks. The move follows Knesset legislation severing ties with the agency.
Millions of Palestinians rely on the UN agency, not only in Gaza but also across the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. | ITV National News
In the Shuafat refugee camp, a hardscrabble district in east Jerusalem surrounded by a hulking concrete wall, intense security checks make venturing out exasperating.
The U.N. relief agency UNRWA warns that halting its operations in Gaza could jeopardize the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. This ceasefire, which paused a prolonged conflict, facilitates humanitarian aid and prisoner exchanges.
Iman Helles, a displaced mother sheltering in a facility run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, fears that she will now be “thrown out to the streets” with her three children.
U.N. officials vowed Thursday that the agency would continue to deliver services in the occupied Palestinian territories for as long as possible.
Implementation of a ban on the U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA in Israel - due to start on Thursday - will be disastrous, the UNRWA chief told the Security Council on Tuesday, as the United States accused it of being "irresponsible and dangerous.