Israel has officially informed the United Nations (UN) of its decision to withdraw from the 1967 agreement recognising the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
This comes after the Israeli parliament (Knesset) on October 29 passed legislation to severely limit the operations of the UNRWA in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel accuses UNRWA employees of participating in the attack launched by the Hamas on Israeli settlements on October 7, 2023.
In a letter addressed to UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang on Monday, November 4, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said that, “Following the legislation on UNRWA, we officially informed the president of the General Assembly of the termination of cooperation with the organisation.”
The withdrawal will be implemented after a three-month transition period.
Taking to X, Danny Danon, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, wrote, “Despite the overwhelming evidence we submitted to the UN that substantiate Hamas’ infiltration of UNRWA, the UN did nothing to rectify the situation.”
“The State of Israel will continue to cooperate with humanitarian organizations but not with organizations that promote terrorism against us,” he added.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Gaza has been relentlessly bombarded, killing over 43,000 Palestinians, with n
