Israel officially informs UN of end to relations with Palestinian relief agency

JERUSALEM: Israel has officially notified the United Nations that it was cancelling the agreement that regulated its relations with the main UN relief organization for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) since 1967, the country’s foreign ministry said on Monday.

Last month, the Israeli parliament passed legislation banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and stopping Israeli authorities from cooperating with the organization, which provides aid and education services to millions of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The legislation has alarmed the United Nations and some of Israel’s Western allies who fear it will further worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting Hamas militants for a year. The ban does not refer to operations in the Palestinian territories or elsewhere.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement that despite the overwhelming evidence “we submitted to the UN highlighting how Hamas infiltrated UNRWA, the UN did nothing to address this reality”.