Bureau Calls Knesset’s Decision to Ban Palestinian Refugee Agency ‘Unlawful as the Occupation Itself’
The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:
The Bureau of the UN Palestinian Rights Committee denounces the Israeli Parliament’s (Knesset) adoption of two bills in regard to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to outright ban the Agency and strip it of its privileges and immunities as a United Nations entity, obstructing its ability to carry out its essential operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as mandated by the General Assembly. This unprecedented illegal action by Israel, the occupying Power, contravenes the Charter of the United Nations, the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, and countless relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions and directly violates Israel’s obligations as the occupying Power under international humanitarian law.
As affirmed by the International Court of Justice, Israel has no entitlement to sovereignty or to sovereign powers in any part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, due to its status as an occupying Power. Therefore, the Knesset’s decision to ban UNRWA is as unlawful as the occupation itself, which must end as swiftly as possible, as determined by the Court and General Assembly resolution ES-10/24.
Israel’s unlawful decision and hostile actions against UNRWA, a UN-mandated entity, threaten to exacerbate the suffering of millions of Palestine refugees across the region, especially in the Gaza Strip, where more than 2 million people depend on the Agency for survival, relying on it for essential services such as education, food, protection, shelter and healthcare. These actions amount to collective punishment, depriving Gaza’s population of life-saving aid and worsening famine and humanitarian conditions. The Agency itself has suffered severe losses, with 237 staff members killed and over 200 facilities damaged or destroyed. Israel’s efforts to undermine and dismantle UNRWA also aim to negate the legal status and rights of the Palestine refugees, obstructing the realization of the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights and the two-State solution, and must be firmly rejected.
The Committee Bureau calls upon the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Member States to categorically reject Israel’s decision, demand its immediate reversal and insist that Israel respect UNRWA’s mandate, immediately cease all attacks on the Agency and its humanitarian operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Israel’s attacks on the United Nations, its missions and agencies, the Secretary-General, and its staff must not be tolerated. The Committee Bureau furthermore calls on the United Nations and all Member States to reaffirm their longstanding, principled support for UNRWA’s critical mandate as conferred by the General Assembly resolution 302(IV) in 1949.
The Committee Bureau also warns against Israel’s exploitation of illegal actions, such as the UNRWA ban legislation, to distract the international community’s attention from the urgent need to achieve an immediate and permanent ceasefire, halt the forced displacement of the Palestinian people, ensure the rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, fully implement General Assembly resolution ES-10/24, and revive a credible political process rooted in international law towards the achievement of a just and lasting peace.