The United Nations Calls Looking For A Replacement For The UN UN UNRWA Humanitarian Aid Agency As Israel's Responsibility

The handover of aid to civilians in Gaza affected by the conflict. (Source: UNRWA)

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) said the replacement of the Palestinian humanitarian aid agency (UNRWA) in Gaza and the West Bank was not the responsibility of the world body, signaling it was an Israeli matter, according to a letter quoted by Reuters.

The United Nations has officially responded in a letter to Israel's decision to cut ties with the UN Agency for Assistance and Work, a move that UNRWA says puts operations in Gaza and the West Bank at risk of collapse.

Under the new law, Israel told the United Nations on Sunday it ended a 1967 cooperation agreement with UNRWA that includes its protection, movement, and diplomatic immunity. The law will also ban UNRWA operations in Israel from late January.

"I want to note, as a general point, it is not our responsibility to replace UNRWA, and we also do not have the capacity to do so," UN Secretary-General spokesman Antonio Guterres, Courtenay Rattray, told a senior Israeli foreign affairs official late Tuesday. November 7th.

The mention of responsibility is an implied reference to Israel's obligations as a power of occupation.

The United Nations views Gaza and the West Bank as Israeli-occupied territory. International humanitarian law requires occupational power to approve aid programs for people in need and facilitate them "by all means" and ensure food standards, medical care, cleanliness, and public health.

Israel's mission at the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Rattray's letter.

"If UNRWA can no longer operate, then it is the responsibility of the Israeli authorities to replace the services it provides to civilians, in the fields of education, health, and in various other fields," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric then told reporters.

In his letter to Netanyahu last week after the Israeli parliament approved a new law on UNRWA, Secretary General Guterres raised several legal issues regarding the decision.

Rattray reiterated the message, calling on Israel "to act consistently" with its obligations based on the UN Charter and international law, stressing in his letter: "National legislation cannot change these obligations."

Separately, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the implementation of Israel's decision would lead to "disastrous consequences," adding: "Millions of Palestinian refugees fear that public services on their bases will soon disappear."

"They are worried that their children will lose their education; the disease will not be treated; and social support will stop," said Lazzarini.

"The entire population of Gaza is concerned that their only remaining path of life will be cut off," he said.

It is known that top UN officials and the Security Council described UNRWA as the backbone of aid responses in Gaza, where Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas have been at war for the past year, leaving the enclave in ruins and on the verge of starvation.

"UNRWA can be defined as a single word failure," Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said at a meeting of the General Assembly on UNRWA on Wednesday.

"The idea that UNRWA cannot be replaced is unreasonable," he continued.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself has long called for UNRWA to be dissolved, accusing him of an anti-Israeli incitement. Israel also said UNRWA staff participated in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel, which sparked a war in Gaza.

The United Nations later said nine UNRWA staff might be involved and have been fired. Separately, a Hamas commander in Lebanon - who was killed in September by Israel - was found to have a job at UNRWA.

UNRWA was founded in 1949 after the war that broke out at the establishment of Israel. UNRWA provides assistance, health, and education for millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and neighboring Arab countries - Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.

The United Nations has repeatedly said there is no alternative but UNRWA. The Palestinian Envoy for the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, told the General Assembly: "The agency is indispensable and irreplaceable."

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem - the Palestinian's desired territory for the country - in the 1967 war. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but, together with neighboring Egypt, controlled the border of the enclave.