Israel Bans Aid Agency UNRWA From Operating in Country

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States was ‘deeply concerned’ by the legislation passed by the Knesset.

Displaced Palestinians sit on benches as they wait outside a clinic of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Jan. 28, 2024. AFP via Getty Images

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has voted to approve two laws banning the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating on Israeli soil and severing all dealings with it, a move that has raised concerns over the impact on humanitarian aid in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict.

On Monday, the first law, banning the agency from operating in Israel, passed by 92–10. The second law, terminating all official connections with the agency, was voted through by 87–9.