What does Israel's UNRWA ban portend?

Israel has banned the Palestinian relief organisation UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory as of next year. The Knesset's decision could make life even more difficult in the Palestinian territories, since Israel controls the borders there. Commentators question the allegations that the agency is a terrorist organisation and shed light on the background to these developments.

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Le Temps (CH) /

A frontal attack on the UN charter

Israel is making a radical break with the international community, says Le Temps:

“This is the culmination of a declaration of war that is not only directed against the Palestinians, millions of whom depend on the UN organisation, but also against the international system. Its implementation means that Israel is breaking the UN Charter head-on. ... The US, but also most Western countries, including France and Germany, had warned the Israeli authorities against the temptation to take this step, which would push Israel even further into the status of a pariah state in terms of international law. In vain.”

Der Standard (AT) /

Populism at the expense of the most vulnerable

Der Standard is not convinced by the Knesset's plan:

“The allegations of terrorism made by Israel concerning the events of 7 October 2023 pertain to a negligible proportion of UNRWA staff, which is why the UN carried out dismissals months ago. Other allegations could be sufficient grounds for criticism and investigations but they don't justify a ban that jeopardises all humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. ... The UNRWA ban is populism at the expense of the most vulnerable. And it fits in with the image Israel paints of the world and international institutions: the UN, the aid organisations, the courts - they are all supposedly conspiring against Israel and obstructing its fight against terror.”

Expressen (SE) /

Not perfect, but indispensable

Expressen weighs up the options:

“UNRWA was founded in 1949 as an emergency measure to deal with the Palestinian refugee crisis. ... It was decided that the Palestinians would inherit the status of refugees. ... This has led to neighbouring countries not integrating Palestinians into their society or granting them citizenship or equal rights. ... Instead, for 75 years they have been living as stateless people in ever-expanding refugee camps run by UNRWA. A policy that has helped neither the Palestinians nor improved the chances of a peaceful two-state solution. However, reforming UNRWA or shifting responsibility to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is not realistic as long as the war rages on. ... UNRWA is not perfect, not even good, but it is the best we have right now.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung (DE) /

Greater Israel as the ultimate goal?

For the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the idea that at least parts of the Israeli leadership are pursuing a more far-reaching goal is obvious:

“The life of all Palestinians in the occupied territories - in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - is to be made unbearable. Anyone observing this, in conjunction with the almost complete destruction of the Gaza Strip in the fight against Hamas and the settlement movement in the West Bank, which Benjamin Netanyahu's government is accelerating, must entertain the suspicion that the ultimate goal of all this is to realise the vision of a Greater Israel. ... The fact that the anti-UNRWA law has now been backed by the governing parties and the opposition shows that this is no longer entirely unthinkable.”

De Volkskrant (NL) /

The West must finally intervene

The international community cannot continue to look on passively, De Volkskrant demands:

“Israel's legitimate self-defence against Hamas has long since turned into collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza, in violation of international law. ... The US and Europe must make clear through sanctions that they will no longer tolerate the ever-increasing radicalisation of Israeli policy against the Palestinians. The international community can no longer stand by and watch the situation in the Gaza Strip deteriorate further.”