In a landmark decision, Israel has formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from its 1967 agreement with UNRWA, following new legislation barring cooperation with the agency. The move follows mounting evidence linking UNRWA staff to the Oct. 7 attacks and Hamas activities.
The newly enacted Knesset legislation bars all Israeli entities from collaborating with UNRWA and withdraws the agency's authorization to operate within Israeli territory.
Following the legislation on UNRWA, the State of Israel officially notified the President of the General Assembly of the termination of cooperation with the agency. Despite the overwhelming evidence we submitted to the UN that substantiate Hamas' infiltration of UNRWA, the UN did… pic.twitter.com/UUti6zZrOT
— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) November 4, 2024
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that the legislation represents "collective punishment" that "should be a concern to all." He emphasized, "These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians. It will deprive over 650,000 girls & boys there from education." He contends that Israel's action breaches its UN obligations.
Acting under Section 1(b) of the UNRWA Activity Termination Law, 2024, Foreign Minister Israel Katz directed ministry Director General Yaakov Blitshtein to formally notify the UN on Sunday evening of Israel's withdrawal from the 1967 Israel-UNRWA agreement. This agreement had served as the cornerstone of Israel-UNRWA relations.
"UNRWA – whose staff members participated in the Oct. 7 massacre and many of whom are Hamas operatives – represents part of Gaza's problem, not its solution," Katz stated. "We've presented the UN with extensive evidence of Hamas operatives within UNRWA and the misuse of UNRWA facilities, yet no action was taken. Furthermore, UNRWA chose to ignore even the UN's own recommendations outlined in the Colonna report.
"Claims about UNRWA being irreplaceable are unfounded: currently, 87% of humanitarian aid flows through other organizations, with UNRWA handling just 13%. Israel remains committed to international law and will continue facilitating humanitarian aid to Gaza while ensuring Israeli citizens' security," Katz added.
Evidence has repeatedly surfaced confirming UNRWA employees' involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks. Numerous additional UNRWA staff members have been identified as operatives of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Fresh cases of UNRWA staff involvement in terrorism continue to emerge.
In July, Israel furnished the UN with comprehensive documentation, including a list of 100 Hamas military wing operatives employed by UNRWA – yet the agency took no action. A recent case involved a UNRWA employee from this list who participated in a grenade attack on a shelter. Despite Israel's intelligence sharing, UNRWA failed to act. While the employee was later killed in an IDF operation, UN Secretary-General António Guterres controversially expressed regret over his death.
Throughout the war, multiple terror operations were launched from UNRWA facilities. The agency failed to notify Israel about these violations, breaching its neutrality commitments.
The agency also neglected to implement basic measures mandated by the UN's own Colonna Report: it retained Hamas and Islamic Jihad-affiliated employees, failed to address facility neutrality violations, and continued using contentious textbooks and materials in UNRWA schools, despite promises to donor countries and Israel to remove such content.
The legislation takes effect in approximately three months, allowing time to expand existing partnerships with other international humanitarian organizations and establish alternative aid mechanisms, all within international law parameters.
Despite the overwhelming evidence we submitted to the UN that substantiates Hamas' infiltration of UNRWA, the UN did nothing to rectify the situation," Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon stated on X. "The State of Israel will continue to cooperate with humanitarian organizations but not with organizations that promote terrorism against us."
