Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli strike in northern Gaza killed 34 people
Associated PressNov 07, 2024
Israel to Cease All Contact with UNRWA
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Above: Palestinians transport boxes of food relief supplies delivered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Jan. 29, 2025. Image copyright: Majdi Fathi/Contributor/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Facts
Israel has announced that all contact with the UN's primary agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) will be broken on Jan. 30 over Israeli allegations that the organization has been infiltrated by Hamas. The US has backed Israel's move.
The UNRWA has said that the decision will be "disastrous," with US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea claiming that the agency is "exaggerating the effects of the laws." The UNRWA has said that it provided 60% of the total food supplies that have reached Gaza since Oct. 7.
UNRWA said operations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank will suffer due to the ban. The agency provides aid, healthcare, and education services to millions of Palestinians and also operates in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The UNRWA is surely flawed, and employees who have taken part in terrorist activities must be held accountable. However, the UNRWA is crucial to delivering aid to Gaza. Israel is risking its international support by passing such legislation.
Pro-Israel narrative
In its 75 years of existence, the UNRWA has only perpetuated conflict between Israelis and Palestinians by providing a pretense of never-ending victimhood and suffering. Almost every camp established by the UNRWA has become a hotbed of terrorism, and the agency's only function in recent decades has been to provide Palestinian terror with international legitimacy. Other agencies and organizations will be able to step in and provide aid to those suffering in Gaza.
Pro-Palestine narrative
The UNRWA was created as a bandaid solution in the wake of Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 to silence Palestinians rightfully enraged by their dispossession. Nonetheless, in the decades since, the agency has served as a reminder to Israel and the international community of Israel's many crimes. Israel's banning of the UNRWA has been in the making for some time, and Israel's goal is to escalate its genocide in Gaza by starving the population of even more much-needed services.
