Israeli Parliament Approves Bill to Label UN Aid Agency as Terrorist Organization

UNRWA service at the Palestinian refugee shelter. (Twitter/@UNRWA)

JERUSALEM - Israel's parliament on Monday gave initial approval to a bill declaring the UN's main aid agency for Palestinians a terrorist organization, proposing to sever ties with the agency.

The vote against the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is the latest move in Israel's push against the agency, which Israeli leaders accuse of cooperating with the Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza.

The bill was approved in a first reading and will return to the foreign affairs and defense committees for further debate, the Knesset information service said.

The bill's sponsor, Yulia Malinovsky, was quoted as describing UNRWA as "Israel's fifth column."

UNRWA provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

UNRWA has long had tense relations with Israel but those have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza and Israel has repeatedly called for UNRWA to be disbanded.

"This is another attempt in a broader campaign to disband the agency," UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma said, according to Reuters on July 23.

"Such measures are unheard of in the history of the United Nations," he said.

Israel says hundreds of UNRWA staff are members of terrorist groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but has not provided evidence to the UN-appointed review.

Several donor countries have halted funding to UNRWA following Israel's allegations but many have reversed their decisions, including Britain which said last week it would continue funding.

Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli vote. Hussein Al-Sheikh, a senior ally of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on the international community to reject attempts to dissolve the agency.