[Source: Reuters]

The United Nations Security Council “strongly warned against any attempts to dismantle or diminish” the operations and mandate of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA after Israel passed a law banning its operations.

In a statement adopted by consensus, the 15-member body expressed grave concern over the legislation adopted by the Israeli parliament on Monday, which is due to come into effect in 90 days and has sparked international condemnation.

The council urged Israel “to abide by its international obligations, respect the privileges and immunities of UNRWA and live up to its responsibility to allow and facilitate full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said Israel’s ban on UNRWA, if implemented, would violate international law, the founding U.N. Charter and a 1946 U.N. convention on the diplomatic privileges and immunities granted to U.N. operations.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini warned that the organization’s aid operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip were now at risk of collapse because of the new law.

The Security Council “underscored that UNRWA remains the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza” and said that no other organization can replace UNRWA’s ability to serve Palestinians in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance.

The move by Israel comes as the amount of aid entering Gaza has plummeted to its lowest level all year, according to U.N. data.

A global hunger monitor has warned, and the U.N. has repeatedly accused Israel of hindering and blocking attempts to deliver aid, particularly to Gaza’s north.

AID

Israel began a wide military offensive in northern Gaza earlier this month.

The United States has said it was watching to ensure that its ally’s actions on the ground show it does not have a “policy of starvation” in the north.

Israel has said there is not a lack of aid in Gaza and accused Hamas of hijacking the humanitarian assistance. Hamas has repeatedly denied Israeli allegations that it was stealing aid and says Israel is to blame for shortages.

UNRWA provides education, health and other aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

It has long had tense relations with Israel, but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in Gaza in October 2023.

Israel has accused some UNRWA staff of also being Hamas militants.

The U.N. said in August that nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and had been fired. Later, a Hamas commander in Lebanon – killed in an Israeli strike – was found to have had an UNRWA job.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Israel “remains committed to international law and to ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, through international organizations that are free of terrorist activity.”

“There are alternatives to UNRWA,” it said in an X post.

The Security Council “underscored the importance to take timely measures to address any credible allegations and to ensure accountability for any violations of the agency’s policies related to the principle of neutrality.”