ActionAid is deeply alarmed by the prospect of the Israeli government’s shameful ban on UNRWA coming into effect and is calling on the international community to take immediate action to prevent it.
Not only would this ban torpedo the response to the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza, it would hinder UNRWA’s ability to continue providing essential and life-saving services to Palestinian refugees across the occupied Palestinian territory.
Legislation passed by the Israeli parliament on October 28, and due to come into effect after 90 days, would prevent UNRWA -- which provides education, healthcare, and basic humanitarian services to Palestinian refugees – from working in East Jerusalem. For decades, UNRWA has run schools and health clinics in East Jerusalem: if it were to cease operating, more than 1,550 students and 70,000 patients would be left without access to healthcare and education. The legislation also contains a provision prohibiting contact and coordination between UNRWA and the Israeli authorities, which would severely obstruct UNRWA’s ability to operate across Palestinian territory.
With the ceasefire in Gaza just days old, people who have survived months of relentless bombardment and deprivation urgently need aid to survive. Gaza’s aid system cannot function without UNWRA, which is the largest humanitarian agency in the strip and coordinates logistics, safety, fuel provision, and the movement of humanitarian relief. There is no alternative: cutting off this vital lifeline would spell a death sentence for Palestinians in Gaza just as they dared to believe their suffering might begin to ease.
Amjad Al-Shawa, Director of the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO), which is an umbrella organisation of 30 Palestinian NGOs responding to the humanitarian need in Gaza and a partner of ActionAid Palestine, said: “UNRWA is the backbone of humanitarian aid [in] the Gaza Strip. UNRWA has delivered decades of work in Gaza...work on shelter, on education, on social services, on health, and other important services.’
“Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA’s work will have severe implications for the lives of the Palestinians, on services, and [it] will [also have] critical consequences for the Palestinian issue. We are calling on all actors to support UNRWA legally and financially, to continue its services and existence.
“[It is an] unprecedented decision taken by the Israelis to ban UNRWA’s work...UNRWA got its legitimacy from the General Assembly of the UN. We as Palestinians are saying that we are UNRWA, and we have to continue support to UNRWA with all means, to continue its existence and its services.”
Riham Jafari, advocacy and communications coordinator at ActionAid Palestine, said: “UNRWA’s role goes beyond providing practical support: it represents the hopes and collective identity and memory for Palestinian refugees. This ban would not only destroy the role of UNRWA and its humanitarian services but would end the Palestinian refugee issue and a beacon of hope for our people.
“The international community cannot abandon Palestinian refugees and stand by as the Israeli government enacts this reckless piece of legislation, which directly flouts its obligation to allow aid into Gaza unhindered, as set out by international humanitarian law and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. It must act now.”
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Riham Jafari, advocacy and communications coordinator at ActionAid Palestine, is available for interview. Please contact the press office at uk.media@actionaid.org or on 07753 973 486 to arrange.