Israeli parliament votes to ban Unrwa from Israel within 90 days
Israeli parliament votes to ban Unrwa from Israel within 90 days
Lawmakers also voted to declare UN relief agency a terror group, banning any direct interaction with Israeli state
Israel’s parliament has voted to ban the United Nations relief and works agency (Unrwa) from the country within 90 days, in defiance of US and other international pressure to maintain the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to the country’s Palestinian population.
In a 92-10 vote late on Monday, the Knesset banned the agency, which operates in Israel according to a 1967 treaty, from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel, including the areas of annexed east Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.
Israeli lawmakers also voted to declare Unrwa a terror group, effectively banning any direct interaction between the UN agency and the Israeli state.
Taken together, the legislation – which will not come into effect immediately – is expected to lead to the closure of Unrwa’s east Jerusalem headquarters and would effectively block the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza via Rafah. The severing of diplomatic relations would preclude Israel from issuing entry and work permits to foreign Unrwa staff and prevent coordination with the Israeli military to permit aid shipments.
More than 1.9 million Palestinians are displaced and the Gaza strip faces widespread shortages of food, water and medicine.
There's also an 'Explainer' article for more background: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/28/what-is-unrwa-and-why-has-israels-parliament-voted-to-ban-it
Soooo are we still watching Palestinians die doing nothing? Yeah? Is that how the world works? Do we maybe send a formal letter that it's not very nice? Not even that?
Sinwar had UNRWA ID on him when he was killed.
That's incorrect. The IDF claims that Sinwar had in his possession the passport of an UNRWA teacher. The passport expired in 2017, and its owner is a 40-year-old man who has been in Egypt since April.
I'm not sure how people imagine this to be some kind of smoking gun for UNRWA being a terrorist organisation. No government donors to UNRWA seem to have considered it worthy of taking any action.
What the absolute fuck are they thinking?
Did someone spike the Israel water supply with stupid pills or something?
The Israel far right is trying to outdo one another for who is most militant.
Expelling all Palestinians from any part of Palestine has always been the plan though. No spiking of water necessary.
Yeah, but trying to cut ties with un humanitarian services is going to erode their already shaky position with purported allies. No treaty or alliance can survive everything. At some point, the risk/reward analysis is going to turn against them, and even their allies that rely on them to be a force projection in the region are going to start abandoning them.
Are they thinking that if they keep this shit up that they'll get attacked full on and their tenuous alliances are going to jump into a world war for them?
It's such shitty long term thinking. Yeah, maybe they take Palestine fully before they lose backing, but what would they be left with? It wouldn't gain them anything worth having long term, and could cost them so much if it goes wrong.
Well, they're not purging Palestinians from Palestine so that they come to Israel, if that's what you're thinking.
It’s way past time that UN bans Israel from their institutions and puts heavy sanctions on them for their genocide and other crimes against humanity.
The United Nations Relief Agency, a terrorist organisation?? Who believes this shit.
Nobody believes it. It's entirely an effort to provide just enough legal cover for their genocide.
i mean germany found multiple members of unra participating in the oct 7 genocide attempt on israel so yeah? if unra has been infiltrated by hamas members why wouldn’t they?
Those allegations were made back in January, and nearly all donor governments - including Germany's and our own - ultimately resumed funding for UNRWA:
- https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-resume-cooperation-with-palestinian-unrwa-agency-2024-04-24/
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-15/australia-to-restore-palestinian-aid-funding-to-unrwa/103592164
- https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-will-resume-funding-to-un-palestinian-aid-agency-heres-how-we-got-here/bpofyz6ba