Despite an Israeli ban on its operations now officially in place but not yet enforced, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said that it is continuing to work and remains “absolutely committed” to providing services such as free healthcare and education in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Israel has passed laws that stop UNRWA operating in Israeli territory as well as occupied East Jerusalem and bans all “contact” between UNRWA and Israeli officials.
Speaking to the UN’s media platform, UNRWA spokesperson, Jonathan Fowler admitted that the organisation was now operating in a “nightmare scenario”
Fowler disclosed how this new law forced agency employees to leave “the offices in East Jerusalem from where operations for the West Bank and East Jerusalem were run” as their visas “were curtailed.”
He described how he and his colleagues had to redeploy to Jordan.
He also argued that the meaning of the new law and its implementation are unclear.
“The exact meaning of “no contact” has not been defined. Does that mean “crossing a checkpoint? Is contact going through a checkpoint to your place of work? Is contact importing medicine? All of these things which remain under control of the Israeli authorities. Can we do this?”
Jonathan Fowler
Yet, this uncertainty is certainly not new for UNRWA. Since October 7, 2023, Fowler described being “in a situation of immense uncertainty” as laws made by the Israeli authorities have made their work “much more complicated.”
For the time being, UNRWA clinics and schools are still in operation in East Jerusalem.
Despite the uncertainty and challenges, Fowler stressed that they will not give up. “We are committed to staying and delivering. Whatever that means, however we can do it,” he stated.
Additionally, Fowler pointed out that the area that will be most affected is Gaza.
Before the war, 13,000 people worked with UNRWA in Gaza, and now, as most of the staff has been displaced, there are only 5,000 remaining.
Fowler said that the 5,000 staff still working in Gaza are the “backbone of the international aid operation” and their work may be compromised by the situation.
If the agency is restricted from providing aid, Fowler said, “we either risk a rapid collapse or slow collapse of the operation overall.”
UNRWA is responsible for 60% of aid coming in and out of Gaza.
During the first three days of the ceasefire agreement, Fowler states UNRWA was able to increase its assistance and provide food for one million people.
If this new law is fully implemented and UNRWA is completely banned, “the backbone of the humanitarian operation” will be removed and “other parts of the UN, NGOs…will not function.” “Our biggest fear is that there is no plan B,” he said.
UNRWA Workers’ Safety In Question
The ban also raises questions about the safety of thousands of UNRWA workers in Gaza, of whom more than 270 have already been killed since the war began, according to the agency.
The conflict has also killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the health ministry there.
Asked if UNRWA staff are safe, Israel’s representative at the UN, Danny Danon said, “It’s not (up to) us to take care of their safety.”
Meanwhile, Hoda Hussein, a Palestinian who was displaced with her family from north of Khan Younis, described the UNRWA ban as “a second starvation and a new war on the Gaza Strip.” She added, “We rely on God, then on them (UNRWA),” she said, adding that for 15 months they had nowhere else to go. We rely on it fully, for everything.”
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