Israeli ban on UNRWA begins as aid agencies argue they do not have capacity to fill the void

At a medical center in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, Suha Ayad held her nine-month-old daughter tightly. Brave little Wateen was due for some vaccinations, but her mother was worried about where she would get them next.

“They say they are going to close this center,” said 30-year-old Suha. “Wateen needs vaccines when she turns one… I came here to ask where to go. We are worried about the vaccines, and we already had a shortage earlier this month.” About a dozen women, many with young children, were inside the center.

Staff said that in recent days people had been asking how much longer the center would be open. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, runs this clinic and two adjacent schools. But from Thursday, it is banned from operating in Israel, and Israeli officials are banned from any contact with UNRWA staff in the West Bank and Gaza. These laws effectively cripple the organization’s operations and raise concerns about who will provide services for 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees.

“This is an absolutely desperate situation,” Jonathan Fowler, UNRWA’s Jerusalem spokesperson, told the ABC. “For a member state of the United Nations, the State of Israel, to choose to revoke the mandate of an organization that was given a mandate by the UN General Assembly is nothing short of scandalous. It’s legally unacceptable, absolutely shocking, and the impact on the services we provide is going to be extremely severe.” Mr. Fowler said there is no other organization, even within the UN, that could step in and fill the void.

“The system is not broken, and it’s now potentially going to be broken because of a law that’s been imposed on us, that’s preventing us from operating,” he said. “There have been reports in the Israeli media that the Palestinian Red Crescent has been given a so-called ‘tender’ to take over our role as health service providers in East Jerusalem, to replace our health system. However, the Palestinian Red Crescent has completely denied this – so there’s a lot of misinformation floating around.”

Criticism of UNRWA from the Israeli government and parliament, the Knesset, has been relentless since October 7. It is alleged that UNRWA staff helped Hamas carry out the deadly attacks on Israel, which killed almost 1,200 people and triggered the war in Gaza. Nine UNRWA staff were suspended, but a UN investigation said Israel had not provided enough evidence to support its claims that the agency was rotten to the core.

“UNRWA has been infiltrated by terrorism. This is just the tip of the iceberg — UNRWA as an organization has been engaged in hate education for a long time, not just since October 7,” said Israeli politician Dan Illouz. Mr. Illouz cited reports that recently returned Israeli hostages said they were held by Hamas in UN facilities in Gaza, including UNRWA buildings.

The US also raised these reports during a UN Security Council discussion in New York on Tuesday, and supported Israel’s ability to implement the ban. The US Deputy Ambassador to the UN criticized the organization’s response to the policy. “UNRWA has exaggerated the impact of the law and suggested that they will force the cessation of entire humanitarian operations, which is irresponsible and dangerous,” Dorothy Shea said.

Mr. Illouz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, said other agencies could and should step up, and dismissed UNRWA’s claims that no other organization has the resources to do so. “This is an argument that UNRWA makes over and over again, to show that they are indispensable,” he said. “But the fact is, there are other conflict zones in the world, where humanitarian organizations know how to deal with these things without UNRWA, and they can do it in these areas if they need to.”

He argued that a ceasefire in Gaza would present a good opportunity for other organizations to step up. The ban makes it clear that UNRWA will not be able to operate within Israel. That includes East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed decades ago and claims as its territory. For staff at the Shuafat medical center, they say they will continue to turn up to work until Israeli authorities stop them. In the West Bank and Gaza, the situation is less clear. The ban means Israeli officials will be prohibited from any interaction with UNRWA staff.

Given that Israel currently controls all entry points into the West Bank and Gaza, it means UNRWA may have to rely on third parties as intermediaries. In East Jerusalem, the UNRWA compound has effectively been shut down. Equipment, such as vehicles, have been removed and transferred to the West Bank. International staff have had to leave after their visas were cancelled. Many boarded buses with tears in their eyes, to be taken to Amman, the capital of Jordan, to try and work remotely. The majority of the agency’s staff are Palestinians, many of whom joined the organization after becoming refugees themselves.

“The atmosphere, I mean, it’s grim,” Jonathan Fowler said. “It’s not the first time that the organization has faced challenges, so we’re adaptable. But this is the first time that we’ve faced an existential threat of this scale and this magnitude.” In recent months, the compound in East Jerusalem has been the target of arson attacks and staff have been attacked by extremists picketing the site. “Nothing in the operation in East Jerusalem comes close to what our staff have endured in Gaza,” Mr. Fowler said.

“We’ve had over 270 staff killed in Gaza, which is unprecedented in the history of the UN… It’s absolutely shocking. It’s simply appalling — the disregard for the sanctity of UN premises, you know, the protection under the UN flag.” Mr. Illouz said the agency’s failings should never result in violence against its staff in Israel. “It is absolutely not legitimate in Israel to harass anyone, even those I completely disagree with,” he said.

Right-wing groups plan to hold a rally outside the walls of the East Jerusalem compound on Thursday, to celebrate the departure of staff and the closure of operations.