The Israeli parliament has passed a bill to end the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Israel.

In the vote, 92 out of 120 Israeli MPs supported the bill to ban UNRWA’s activities in Israel, while 10 MPs opposed it. During the session, Yuli Edelstein, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, stated that Israel had the right to “fight against threats against it.” Boaz Bismuth, one of the lawmakers who drafted the bill, argued that UNRWA is not a legitimate refugee agency.

The bill prohibits UNRWA from directly or indirectly opening offices, providing services, or conducting any activities within the “sovereign territory” of Israel.

United States: Israel has provided no evidence on UNRWA

At a daily press briefing, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was questioned about Israel’s efforts to block UNRWA activities as the bill was debated. Miller stated, “We believe that the Israeli government should share the information it claims to have against UNRWA and its staff. UNRWA has launched investigations to address allegations against its personnel. However, to our knowledge, the Israeli government has yet to provide any evidence regarding UNRWA.” Miller added that if Israel wishes to act on claims of UNRWA involvement in a terrorist attack, they must present proof.

Miller emphasized that no agency can replace UNRWA’s role in meeting the humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees in Gaza. He warned that, without UNRWA, civilians—including children and infants—would lack access to basic necessities like food, water, and medicine, calling this outcome “unacceptable.”

‘This law will not eliminate Palestinian refugees’

After the bill’s passage, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini criticized the move, describing it as “a dangerous precedent” that violates the UN Charter. He argued that the legislation disregards Israel’s obligations under international law, stating, “The bill represents an ongoing campaign to delegitimize UNRWA’s role in providing humanitarian aid and services to Palestinian refugees.”

Lazzarini warned that the bill would deepen the suffering of Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, where over 650,000 children risk losing access to education. He further remarked that the law would “increase the suffering of Palestinians” and serve as “collective punishment,” asserting that it does not alter the refugee status of Palestinians, which remains protected by a separate UN General Assembly resolution until a just resolution is reached.

UN General Assembly to address the issue

In a written statement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that enforcing this law would have severe consequences for Palestinian refugees. “I urge Israel to comply with its obligations under the UN Charter, international law, and international humanitarian law,” Guterres stated, adding that he would bring the matter before the UN General Assembly.

EU and UK response

The European Union issued a statement condemning the bill, asserting that it violates international law and humanitarian principles and will exacerbate the existing humanitarian crisis by potentially cutting off essential services for millions of Palestinian refugees.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also expressed concern in a statement, noting the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. “An immediate ceasefire, prisoner release, and increased humanitarian aid are urgently needed,” Starmer said. He added that only UNRWA has the capacity to provide humanitarian assistance at the necessary scale and called on Israeli MPs to allow UNRWA to continue its critical work.

Slovenia, Ireland, Norway, and Spain issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s decision and pledged to work with donor and host countries to support UNRWA’s humanitarian mission.

Türkiye: Threats to the two-state solution and refugee return

The Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized the decision in a written statement, describing it as a violation of international law and alleging that Israel seeks to undermine the two-state solution and prevent the return of Palestinian refugees. The statement highlighted the importance of UNRWA’s role in maintaining regional stability, as it has provided essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees since 1949.

Since October 7, the Israeli army has reportedly killed 231 UNRWA workers in attacks on Gaza. The Israeli government has accused 14 UNRWA employees of involvement in these attacks and argued that the agency should be disbanded.

The Tel Aviv government continues its campaign to close UNRWA and discredit its work. The agency employs 30,000 staff—primarily Palestinians—to provide health, education, and social services to Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, and Jordan.

More than 1,000 writers and publishing professionals, including Sally Rooney, Arundhati Roy, and Rachel Kushner, have pledged to boycott Israeli cultural institutions they deem “complicit in, or silent observers of, the crushing oppression of Palestinians.”

The signatories state they will not work with Israeli publishers, festivals, literary agencies, or publications that they believe are complicit in “the violation of Palestinian rights,” citing “discriminatory policies and practices” as well as efforts to “whitewash and legitimize Israel’s occupation, apartheid, or genocide.”

Institutions that have not publicly recognized “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in international law” will also be boycotted, according to the signatories.

This campaign was organized by the Palestine Literature Festival (PalFest), which holds an annual series of free public events across cities in Palestine.

“We writers, publishers, festival staff, and other book workers are publishing this letter at a time when we face the deepest moral, political, and cultural crisis of the 21st century,” the statement begins, noting that since last October, Israel has killed at least 43,362 Palestinians in Gaza, following “75 years of displacement, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid.”

The signatories emphasize that culture “has played an integral role in normalizing these injustices,” adding that “Israeli cultural institutions, often working directly with the state, have played a crucial role in concealing, obfuscating, and whitewashing decades of dispossession and oppression of millions of Palestinians.”

The pledge asserts that those in the cultural sector “have a role to play.” The letter continues, “We cannot in good conscience engage with Israeli institutions without questioning their relationship to apartheid and dispossession,” referencing the historical precedent of writers boycotting apartheid-era South Africa.

The letter concludes with a call for signatories to join their colleagues in the pledge.

In response, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), an organization of lawyers supporting Israel, sent a letter to the Society of Authors, the Publishers Association, and the Independent Publishers Guild.

“This boycott is clearly discriminatory against Israelis and does not impose similar conditions on authors, publishers, festivals, literary agencies, or publications of other nationalities,” UKLFI stated, adding that its members believe there are legal risks involved in participating in the boycott.

Omar Robert Hamilton, co-founder and current festival director of PalFest, responded, calling UKLFI’s letter “notable only for its moral bankruptcy,” saying it demonstrates “that Israel’s defenders have nothing substantive to say.”

Rooney, author of Normal People and most recently Intermezzo, has long been an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights and, in 2021, refused to sell the Hebrew translation rights for her novel Beautiful World, Where Are You to an Israeli publisher.

Roy and Kushner are also vocal critics of Israel. Earlier this month, while accepting the PEN Pinter Prize, Roy mentioned Gaza in her speech and announced she would donate the prize money to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.

Talks continue in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on the resumption of prisoner exchange negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli press reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the short-term ceasefire in Gaza proposed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, despite support from most government ministers.

According to reports, Mossad Director David Barnea, CIA Director William Burns, and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdurrahman al-Thani met in Doha yesterday to resume negotiations on a prisoner swap. The meetings between Barnea, Al Thani, and Burns are set to continue today.

Following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in an Israeli raid on Rafah in southern Gaza on October 16, the prisoner swap issue was put back on the agenda by U.S. and Tel Aviv administrations. Hamas reportedly holds 101 Israeli prisoners in Gaza.

Two-day truce offer rejected

Israeli state television KAN and Channel 12 reported that the Tel Aviv government rejected the Egyptian proposal. According to Channel 12’s website, while most Israeli government ministers supported the Egyptian proposal, Netanyahu opposed it. Netanyahu reportedly argued that “talks on a prisoner swap will only continue as long as the attacks on Gaza continue.” The report noted that Israeli security units had supported the Egyptian offer.

President Sisi had proposed a two-day ceasefire initiative for exchanging four Israeli prisoners and some Palestinians detained in Gaza. “Negotiations will take place in the next 10 days to turn the temporary truce into a permanent one,” el-Sisi said.

‘We must make painful concessions’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has been at odds with Netanyahu and his right-wing partners over the management of post-war Gaza and is expected to be dismissed soon, said “painful concessions” would be necessary to secure the prisoners’ return.

Speaking at a memorial service for the victims of the “Aqsa Flood,” Gallant stated: “In war, not all goals can be achieved by military means. Power is not the answer to everything. The return of the Gaza prisoners to their homes requires painful compromises. We must do it for the prisoners, for their families, for the fallen soldiers, for the legacy of the army, for Jewish and national values. This is our responsibility.”