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Israel Is Urged to Reverse Course on Palestinian Aid Agency Ban
Diplomats at the United Nations Security Council said planned restrictions on the agency, UNRWA, would imperil Palestinians. Only the U.S. sides with Israel.
A health center run by the Palestinian refugee aid agency in Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday. Credit… Sinan Abu Mayzer/Reuters Jan. 28, 2025
With only two days before Israel outlaws operations on its soil of the main U.N. aid agency for Palestinian refugees, the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday took up the issue at a meeting where the United States was Israel’s sole defender.
The Israeli laws target a 75-year-old agency that has been a backbone of humanitarian aid delivery to two million Palestinians in Gaza, just as a fragile cease-fire is taking hold there. The agency also helps Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in East Jerusalem.
On Tuesday, senior U.N. officials and every member of the Security Council save the United States called Israel’s actions a violation of its obligations under international law and the U.N. charter. They warned that the restrictions would have a disastrous impact on aid delivery and jeopardize peace in the long-term.
“The legislation makes a mockery of international law and imposes massive constraints,” said Philippe Lazzarini the chief of the aid agency, known as UNRWA. “We are determined, however, to stay and deliver until it is no longer possible to do so.”
The Trump administration’s interim representative to the U.N., Dorothy Shea, dismissed the agency’s claims as exaggerated, and called warnings that aid will come to a halt “irresponsible and dangerous.” She said the United States supported “Israel’s sovereign decision” to close the aid agency’s offices on its soil.
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The Security Council meeting about the aid agency on Tuesday. Credit… Yuki Iwamura/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
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