The Israeli parliament has approved a controversial bill to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), considered a lifeline for Gaza, from operating on Israeli territory.
The legislation, which won’t take effect immediately, risks collapsing the already fragile aid distribution process at a moment when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening, and Israel is under increased pressure to allow in aid supplies.
The vote passed 92-10 and followed a fiery debate between supporters of the law and its opponents, primarily members of Arab parliamentary parties.
UNRWA is the primary mechanism by which Gaza receives aid and runs its own institutions. It is a thorn in Israel’s side because they want control over all of that as well and are pissed that Gazans can direct resources where they want.
Another major factor is UNRWA’s existence is legally giving Palestinians status as refugees who were ethnically cleaned by the Nakba. By dismantling UNRWA Israel is trying to remove Palestinian’s legal right to return.
https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are/frequently-asked-questions :
UNRWA is mandated by the UN General Assembly to serve ‘Palestine refugees’. This term was defined in 1952 as any person whose “normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.” Palestine refugees are persons who fulfil the above definition and descendants of fathers fulfilling the definition.
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