Israel faced an international backlash on Tuesday after its parliament approved a bill banning the main United Nations aid agency working in the devastated Gaza Strip, where dozens of people are being killed every day.
Despite global concerns, including from Israel’s ally the United States, lawmakers in the Knesset overwhelmingly voted to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from working in Israel and annexed East Jerusalem.
The lawmakers also passed a measure prohibiting Israeli officials from working with UNRWA and its employees.
Israel strictly controls all humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza, where its brutal military offensive has killed over 43,000 people – mostly civilians, since October 2023.
UNRWA, which has been operating since 1949, has provided essential aid, schooling and healthcare across the Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades. ….more
