Israel Passes Laws That Restrict UN Agency That Is a Lifeline for Gaza

FILED - 10 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians inspect the damage to one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) buildings in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ishaq/dpa
FILED - 10 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians inspect the damage to one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) buildings in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ishaq/dpa
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Israel Passes Laws That Restrict UN Agency That Is a Lifeline for Gaza

FILED - 10 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians inspect the damage to one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) buildings in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ishaq/dpa
FILED - 10 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians inspect the damage to one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) buildings in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ishaq/dpa

Israeli lawmakers passed two laws on Monday that could threaten the work of the main UN agency providing aid to people in Gaza by barring it from operating on Israeli soil, severing ties with it.

The laws, which do not immediately take effect, signal a new low for a long-troubled relationship between Israel and the UN Israel’s international allies said they were deeply worried about their potential impact on Palestinians as the Gaza war’s humanitarian toll worsens.

Under the first law, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, would be banned from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel. The second law would sever Israel's diplomatic ties with the agency.

The laws risk collapsing the already fragile process for distributing aid in Gaza at a moment when Israel is under increased US pressure to ramp up aid. UNRWA’s chief called them “a dangerous precedent.”

Israel has alleged that some of UNRWA’s thousands of staff members participated in the Hamas attacks last year that sparked the war in Gaza. It also has said hundreds of UNRWA staff have militant ties and that it has found Hamas military assets in or under the agency’s facilities.

The agency fired nine employees after an investigation but denied it knowingly aids armed groups and said it acts quickly to purge any suspected militants from its ranks. Some of Israel’s allegations prompted major international donors to cut funding to the agency, although some of it has been restored.

Israel has at times during the war raided or attacked UNRWA schools or other facilities, saying militants were operating there. UNRWA says more than 200 of its employees have been killed during the war.

“The law that we passed now is not just another bill. It is a call for justice and a wake up call,” said lawmaker Boaz Bismuth, who co-sponsored one of the bills. “UNRWA is not an aid agency for refugees. It is an aid agency for Hamas.”

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said the new laws were part of an “ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA.”

"These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza,” he said on the social platform X.

The first vote passed 92-10 and followed a fiery debate between supporters of the law and its opponents, mostly members of Arab parliamentary parties. The second law, which initially included a move to label UNRWA a terror organization but was later amended, was approved 87-9.

An English language account on X for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was ready to work with international partners to ensure it “continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.” The post did not say how, and it was not clear how the flow of aid would be affected once these bills take effect.

Together, the laws would effectively sever ties with the UN agency, strip it of legal immunities and restrict its ability to support Palestinians in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The legislation does not provide for alternative organizations to oversee its work.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said UNRWA would be prevented from doing UN General Assembly-mandated work if the laws are implemented. “There is no alternative to UNRWA,” he said in a statement issued Monday night.

Guterres called on Israel “to act consistently with its obligations” under the UN Charter and international law, as well as the privileges and immunities of the United Nations. “National legislation cannot alter those obligations,” Guterres stressed in a statement.

International allies of Israel’s have opposed the moves  

The changes could be a serious blow to Palestinians in Gaza. More than 1.9 million Palestinians are displaced from their homes, and Gaza faces widespread shortages of food, water and medicine.

International aid groups and a handful of Israel’s Western allies, including the US, have voiced strong opposition.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, speaking to reporters in Washington before the votes, said the administration was “deeply concerned” by the legislation. “There’s nobody that can replace them right now in the middle of the crisis,” he said.

UNRWA provides education, health care and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region, including in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The laws would go into effect 60 to 90 days after Israel’s Foreign Ministry notifies the UN, according to the spokesperson of lawmaker Dan Illouz, one of the co-sponsors of one of the laws.



US Allows Transactions with Governing Institutions in Syria Despite Sanctions

 A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Allows Transactions with Governing Institutions in Syria Despite Sanctions

 A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months after the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance.

The exemption, known as a general license, also allows some energy transactions and personal remittances to Syria until July 7. The action did not remove any sanctions.

Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available just two or three hours per day in most areas. The caretaker government says it aims to provide electricity up to eight hours per day within two months.

The US Treasury said the move sought "to help ensure that sanctions do not impede essential services and continuity of governance functions across Syria, including the provision of electricity, energy, water, and sanitation."

A lightning opposition offensive brought a sudden end to decades of Assad family rule on Dec. 8. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which led the advance and set up Syria's caretaker government, renounced its ties with Al-Qaeda. But the US continues to designate it as a terrorist entity.

The United States, Britain, the European Union and other governments imposed tough sanctions on Syria after Assad's crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011 spiraled into civil war.

Washington previously authorized humanitarian support to the Syrian people by aid groups, the United Nations and the US government as well as some economic activity in certain areas not held by Assad's government.

While Monday's move "authorizes transactions with governing institutions in Syria ... even if a designated individual has a leadership role in that governing institution," it does not permit any transactions involving military or intelligence agencies.

The Treasury defined Syria's governing institutions as departments, agencies and government-run public service providers - including hospitals, schools and utilities - at the federal, regional or local level, and entities involved with HTS across Syria.

It also authorizes transactions in support of the sale, supply, storage or donation of energy, including petroleum and electricity, to or within Syria.

US sanctions on Assad and his associates, the Syrian government, the Central Bank of Syria and HTS remain in place, said the US Treasury.

'SUPPORT HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE'

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the move showed goodwill toward the Syrian people rather than the new government.

"The end of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal and repressive rule, backed by Russia and Iran, provides a unique opportunity for Syria and its people to rebuild," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo in a statement.

"During this period of transition, Treasury will continue to support humanitarian assistance and responsible governance in Syria."

Maher Khalil al-Hasan, the trade minister in Syria's caretaker government, on Monday said the country is unable to make deals to import fuel, wheat or other key goods due to strict US sanctions despite many countries wanting to do so.

Syria faces a "catastrophe" if sanctions are not frozen or lifted soon, he said.

Washington wants to see HTS cooperate on priorities such as counterterrorism and forming a government inclusive of all Syrians.

Along with unilateral measures, HTS has also been on the UN Security Council Al-Qaeda and ISIS sanctions list for more than a decade, subject to a global assets freeze and arms embargo, though there is a humanitarian exemption.

Many diplomats acknowledge that the removal of sanctions could be used as leverage to ensure Syria's new authorities fulfill their commitments.

Diplomats and UN officials are also keen to avoid a repeat of difficulties in Afghanistan after the hardline Taliban took over in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after two decades of war.

Banks were wary of testing UN and US sanctions, leaving the UN and aid groups struggling to deliver enough cash to run operations and forcing the US to issue sanctions exemptions.