SHAH ALAM – Passing a law that bans the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is an outright attack on the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said that the law was clearly designed to make it impossible for the agency to operate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by forcing the closure of the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem and ending visas for its staff.
"This amounts to the criminalisation of humanitarian aid and will worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
"UNRWA has played an indispensable role in offering, food, water, medical aid, education and shelter to the nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza who have been forcibly displaced, subjected to an engineered famine and stand at serious risk of genocide as a result of Israel’s relentless offensive in the last 12 months,” Callamard said in a statement posted on Amnesty’s website.
The law, Callamard said, flies in the face of the International Court of Justice order to Israel to ensure sufficient humanitarian assistance and facilitate basic services.
"UNRWA has been a lifeline for Palestinian refugees in the occupied Gaza Strip and the West Bank and in neighbouring countries throughout the 75 years since its foundation. The plight of the Palestinian people would be even more severe if not for UNRWA’s tireless work over the last three quarters of a century.
"This appalling, inhumane law will only exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians, who have endured unimaginable hardship and whose need for global support is greater than ever,” she said.
Amnesty International also called for the international community to condemn the decision and exert any influence they had on the Israeli government to repeal it.
On Oct 29, Israel’s parliament passed a controversial law banning the UNRWA from operating within its borders.
The law, passed with a decisive 92-10 vote, barred UNRWA from operating in Israeli-controlled areas, citing alleged connections between some of the agency’s employees and militant groups.
According to Reuters, Israeli lawmakers who supported the ban stated that some UNRWA staff members were involved in the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and alleged affiliations with Hamas and other armed groups.
Following the vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the legislation, asserting that "UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable.”