Aid organizations say Israel’s recent ban of 37 groups has dealt a severe blow to humanitarian work across Palestine. In Gaza, it means “cutting off a lifeline for over two million people,” says Rahma Worldwide’s Dr. Shadi Zazzah.
The Israeli government’s closure of six UNRWA schools in Jerusalem has left over 800 Palestinian students without school, and has thrown an entire community into limbo. Residents say it’s all part of a larger attack on Palestinian refugees.
Gaza cannot survive without UNRWA and the life-saving services it provides. That is why Israel’s attack on the UN agency is an attack on Palestinian existence.
Israel’s ongoing military offensive in the West Bank has forcibly displaced 40,000 Palestinians from refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, according to UNRWA.
Israel’s ban on UNRWA would leave hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees without education, jobs, or essential services. But the real reason it is going after the UN agency lies in Israel’s political and territorial ambitions.
The Israeli army is expanding its offensive in the northern West Bank and employing some of the same tactics that it has used in Gaza over the past 15 months, including the mass expulsion of residents, airstrikes, and large-scale demolitions.
UNRWA announced Monday that it is halting aid shipments through the Karam Abu Salem crossing into Gaza citing “hurdles from Israeli authorities” as a reason for a “breakdown in law and order.”
Gaza ceasefire talks resume in Cairo as Israel continues to besiege the north of Gaza for the 60th day, and UNRWA announces that it will be halting aid shipments due to dangerous conditions and the continued looting of aid trucks.
Israel has banned the work of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in Israel and East Jerusalem. The move could have a major impact on the agency’s life-saving work and is part of an ongoing campaign to erase Palestinian refugee rights.
Mass graves are being discovered in Gaza, but Biden has made it clear that weapons will keep flowing to Israel.