By Jay Deshmukh with Aya Iskandarani in Beirut

JERUSALEM – Israel formally notified the United Nations of its decision to sever ties with the agency supporting Palestinian refugees, it said Monday (4), after lawmakers voted to ban the organization vital to the occupied territories.

The ban, which sparked global condemnation including from key Israeli backer the United States, should come into force in late January, with the UN Security Council warning it would have severe consequences for millions of Palestinians.

Israel has accused a dozen employees of the agency, UNRWA, of participating in the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, the deadliest in Israeli history.

UNRWA fired nine employees in the wake of the attack that sparked the Gaza war following the accusations.

“On the instruction of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the UN of the cancellation of the agreement between the State of Israel and UNRWA,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“UNRWA, the organization whose employees participated in the October 7 massacre and many of whose employees are Hamas operatives, is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution,” Katz was quoted as saying.

Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,341 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which the United Nations considers to be reliable.

– ‘UNRWA or nothing’ –

Jonathan Fowler, an UNRWA spokesman, told AFP the ban would probably cause the collapse of aid efforts to Gaza.

“If this law is implemented, it would be likely to cause the collapse of the international humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip — an operation of which UNRWA is the backbone,” Fowler told AFP.

“It would also be likely to cause the collapse of essential services provided by UNRWA in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including education, healthcare, and sanitation.”

But Israel has dismissed the argument on Gaza, saying only a part of aid was being delivered into the territory by UNRWA.

“The State of Israel is committed to international law and will continue to facilitate the entrance of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in a manner that does not harm the security of the citizens of Israel,” Katz said.

Residents of Nur Shams camp in the occupied West Bank were fearful for the future after an Israeli raid last week damaged the UNRWA office there.

The 13,000 inhabitants of the camp near the northern city of Tulkarem depend heavily on UNRWA.

“For us, it’s UNRWA or nothing,” Shafiq Ahmad Jad, who runs a phone shop in the camp, told AFP.

“For the refugees… they look to UNRWA as their mother,” said Hanadi Jabr Abu Taqa, an agency official in charge of the northern West Bank.

“So imagine if they lost their mother.”

A series of probes, including one led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality related issues” at UNRWA but stressed that Israel had not provided evidence for its chief allegations.

An internal probe found that nine employees “may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October”.

UNRWA was established in 1949 after the first Arab-Israeli conflict following Israel’s creation in 1948.

The agency, which began its operations on May 1, 1950, was tasked with assisting some 750,000 Palestinians who had fled or been expelled from their homes during the war.

Its mandate has since been repeatedly extended in the absence of a solution for Palestinian refugees.

Since late September, Israel has broadened the focus of its war to Lebanon, where it stepped up a campaign against Hamas ally Hezbollah following nearly a year of cross-border fire.

On Sunday (3), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the northern border with Lebanon, where he reiterated in a meeting with troops his war objectives on the northern front.

“I want to be clear: with or without an agreement, the key to restoring peace and security in the north… is first and foremost to push Hezbollah back beyond the Litani River, secondly to target any attempt to rearm, and thirdly to respond firmly to any action taken against us,” Netanyahu told troops at the border, his office said in a statement.

The Litani River flows across southern Lebanon, and the area to its south has in recent decades seen multiple wars with Israel.

– Lebanon strikes –

Israel launched in late September a massive aerial campaign primarily targeting Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon and sent in ground troops on September 30.

The war in Lebanon has killed more than 1,940 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.

On Monday, the Israeli military said it had killed a top Hezbollah commander responsible for launching rocket and anti-missile attacks against Israeli forces in south Lebanon.

Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, said it fired rockets at the northern Israeli city of Safed on Monday.

Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of Hamas in Gaza, though many in both Lebanon and the Palestinian territory are clamoring for a ceasefire as the humanitarian situation worsens.

Israeli jets carried out strikes on Monday targeting several areas of southern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA).

In Bazouriyeh, near the south Lebanese city of Tyre, the NNA said rescuers were looking for people missing under the rubble after a strike on Sunday.

-Agence France-Presse