In an urgent appeal, ICSPR and human rights organizations call for international action to halt the decision to ban UNRWA’s operations and ensure its ability to continue its work in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Date: January 20, 2025
Urgent Appeal
In an urgent appeal, ICSPR and human rights organizations call for international action to halt the decision to ban UNRWA’s operations and ensure its ability to continue its work in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) and Arab and international human rights organizations demand urgent intervention to prevent the ban on the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) by the Israeli occupation. They warn of the exacerbation of the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip if UNRWA’s operations are halted.
ICSPR and the human rights organizations have sent an urgent message to the United Nations, European governments, and members of parliaments in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland regarding Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA’s operations for Palestinian refugees.
The message pointed out that in October 2024, the Israeli Knesset finalized a decision to ban UNRWA activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Israeli ban is set to take effect in a few days, before the end of January this year.
The message clarified that the Israeli ban means that the agency will no longer be able to operate in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. This includes shutting down its offices, freezing any bank accounts in Israel, and preventing the provision of essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
The message stressed that UNRWA is “indispensable,” as its activities help keep the people of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip “alive” amidst the ongoing genocide. The agency is the backbone of humanitarian efforts in the Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza.
The message further explained that Israel has been working for years, through diplomatic and political means, to terminate UNRWA’s operations. Following the events of October 7, 2023, Israel renewed its calls to shut down UNRWA and urged the U.S. and Western countries to halt its funding. Israel alleged that UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 attacks but failed to provide any evidence.
The message underscored the critical humanitarian and developmental role of UNRWA, whose mandate has been renewed repeatedly by the United Nations General Assembly to provide assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees until they return to their homes from which they were displaced. UNRWA provides essential services, including basic education, healthcare, social services, relief, and emergency assistance, particularly during armed conflicts.
The message emphasized that for more than seven decades, UNRWA has been the primary provider of educational, health, and social services to Palestinian refugees.
In the Palestinian territories, UNRWA manages 27 refugee camps (8 in Gaza and 19 in the West Bank and Jerusalem). It provides healthcare, education, relief, infrastructure services, protection, and loans to 2.6 million registered refugees (1.6 million in Gaza and 1 million in the West Bank and Jerusalem).
UNRWA operates 380 schools (284 in Gaza and 96 in the West Bank and Jerusalem) and employs 15,981 staff members (12,132 in Gaza and 3,849 in the West Bank and Jerusalem). It runs 65 health clinics (22 in Gaza and 43 in the West Bank and Jerusalem), with 4,295,000 annual patient visits (3.4 million in Gaza and 895,000 in the West Bank).
It also provides social protection services to the most vulnerable groups, benefiting a total of 135,000 refugees (99,000 in Gaza and 36,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem) before the genocide in Gaza.
The message asserted that UNRWA is irreplaceable and indispensable for the humanitarian, developmental, and economic needs of the Palestinian people. The United Nations General Assembly is the sole authority responsible for overseeing, directing, or amending UNRWA’s mandate. Neither Israel nor any other state has any right, under any circumstances, to interfere with UNRWA’s mandate or operations.
The signatories to the message called for urgent international action to halt the Israeli decision to ban UNRWA’s operations and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip due to the ongoing genocide.
