US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Biden administration was deeply concerned about the Israeli parliament’s vote to pass two laws that could prevent the UN agency for Palestinian refugees – Gaza’s largest aid provider – from operating in the area. Palestinian territories.
The Knesset vote is the culmination of a long-running campaign against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, which the Israeli government claims has been hijacked by the militant group Hamas. UNRWA denied the allegations.
“UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on social media hours after the Knesset vote. “Because avoiding a humanitarian crisis is also important, continuous humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future. In the 90 days before this law takes effect – and after – we are ready to work with our international partners to ensure Israel continues. to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security.”
Miller said the legislation could have implications under US law and US policy.
“We have made it very clear to the Israeli government that we are very concerned,” he said.
Miller explained UNRWA’s role in providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the region, particularly in Gaza.
“He really has an irreplaceable role right now in Gaza, where he’s on the front lines of getting humanitarian aid to people who need it,” Miller said. “Nothing can change now in the middle of the crisis. So we continue to ask the Israeli government to pause the implementation of this law … and we will consider the next steps based on what happens in the coming days.”
The Knesset election drew protests from the United Nations, as well as from governments around the world.
“There is no alternative to UNRWA,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement. “I call on Israel to act consistently with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and those related to the privileges and immunities of the United Nations. National laws cannot alter these obligations. the implementation of this law will be detrimental to the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to peace and security in the region as a whole.
Guterres said he would take the matter to the UN General Assembly.
The governments of Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain also condemned the move and said in a joint statement that “the law approved by the Knesset sets a very serious precedent for the work of the United Nations and for all organizations of the multilateral system.”
The four countries said they would “continue to work with donor and host countries to ensure the sustainability of UNRWA’s work and its humanitarian role,” the statement said.
Britain called UNRWA a “lifeline” for the Palestinians, and its foreign secretary said in a statement on social media that “the bill that restricts UNRWA is wrong.”
Germany said the law would “effectively make UNRWA’s work in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem impossible … jeopardizing vital humanitarian aid for millions of people.”
If the bill is enacted, “there will be severe humanitarian consequences for the people we serve,” UNWRA Communications Director Juliette Touma told CBS News. “Why not focus on what needs to happen now, which is a ceasefire and an agreement to release the hostages and improvements also in line with what the letter from the United States sent to the Israeli government to increase the flow of humanitarian supplies should be the focus now.
Hamas said the vote was an act of “Zionist aggression.”
The war between Israel and Hamas started when Hamas-led militants invaded Israel on October 7, 2023killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israeli retaliatory strikes have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. About 90% of the population of 2.3 million have been displaced from their homes, often multiple times.
Haley Ott contributed to this report.
