Israel takes bold steps against UN agency that helps millions of Palestinians
A 75-year-old UN organization faces its biggest test as Israel moves to block its operations. New laws could stop aid delivery to Gaza where millions depend on this agency for basic needs
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) - a key aid-provider for Palestinians in Gaza is dealing with intense push-back from Israel‚ while over 43k people lost their lives and 100k got hurt in the recent war
Israel says it found links between UNRWA staff and Hamas (the group that controls Gaza) About 10% of workers might have connections; nine people got fired after a check-up. The agency also had to deal with tunnel findings under its schools - they fixed this by putting cement in holes
- Schools and health centers
- Food and basic help
- Emergency shelters
- Education for kids
They teach Palestinian kids that they can come back that their home is in Israel
The main issue isnt about aid - its about refugee status. UNRWA lets Palestinians pass their refugee status to kids which means the number grew from 700k in late 40s to 6m today. Israel thinks this keeps the right-to-return idea alive
Early this month Israelʼs parliament passed two laws that dont allow UNRWA to work there anymore. These rules will start in 90 days and could stop most aid getting to Gaza (even through Egypt) since Israel controls everything
The truth is that it is Israel that has been dragging its feet on Palestinians right to have their own nation
UNRWA runs over 300 buildings in Gaza with 13k local workers. About 1m people used these places as shelter during fighting. The UN told Israel: if you block UNRWA youll need to take care of these people yourself - something that costs lots of money now paid by other countries
