Israel makes unexpected move against key UN Palestinian aid group
Israel stops working with long-standing UN Palestinian refugee agency after almost 60 years. The decision puts question marks on humanitarian work in Gaza Strip
In a ground-breaking step Israel Katz Foreign Minister sent an official note to UN announcing that Israel stops following the half-century-old deal with UNRWA (the main UN group helping Palestinians). The letter went straight to António Guterres on monday
The decades-old agreement from late 60s — which made UN work with Palestinian refugees legal and proper — got thrown out by Israelʼs top diplomat; however no-one knows yet what this means for day-to-day aid work
This UN group has been giving food medicine and other help to people living in Gaza Strip since forever (they started way back when the first agreement was signed). The organization became like a life-support system for many Palestinians who dont have other options for getting basic stuff they need
The whole thing happened right when UNRWA was doing its regular work in Gaza: the timing raised some eye-brows among aid-workers and made people think about whats next for humanitarian help in this area
