Israel's parliament on Monday banned the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, despite objections from the international community and Lebanon said 60 people were killed in latest Israeli attacks in east of the country.
Lawmakers passed the bill with 92 votes in favour and 10 against, after years of harsh Israeli criticism of UNRWA, which has only increased since the start of the war in Gaza following Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks last year.
The ban on the UN agency -- which has provided essential aid and assistance across Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades -- would be a blow to humanitarian work in Gaza if implemented, according to experts.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini condemned the decision, saying it set "a dangerous precedent".
"This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA... These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians," he wrote on X.
The move also brought condemnation and criticism from the governments of the United States, Britain and Germany, among others.
Ahead of the vote, the United States said it was "deeply concerned" about the bill, reiterating the "critical" role the agency plays in distributing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
Washington warned Israel on October 15 that it had 30 days to increase the amount of aid reaching the Gaza Strip or it would consider withholding some military assistance to its key ally.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain was "gravely concerned" as the legislation would make "UNRWA's essential work for Palestinians impossible, jeopardising the entire international humanitarian response in Gaza and delivery of essential health and education services in the West Bank".
- 'No place for Jewish enemies' -
In January, Israel accused a dozen of UNRWA's Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, which sparked the deadliest war in the territory.
A series of probes found some "neutrality related issues" at UNRWA, and determined that nine employees "may have been involved" in the October 7 attack, but found no evidence for Israel's central allegations.
"There is a deep connection between the terrorist organisation (Hamas) and UNRWA, and Israel cannot put up with it," Yuli Edelstein, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's ruling Likud party and one of the sponsors of the bill, said in parliament as he presented the proposal.
"There is no place for enemies in the heart of the capital of the Jewish people."
Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem, including the annexed east, as its indivisible capital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable" but added that "sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza".
"We stand ready to work with our international partners to ensure Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel's security," he said on X.
Islamist group Hamas reacted with fury to the ban.
"We consider this part of the Zionist war and aggression against our people," Hamas said in a statement.
The Palestinian presidency condemned the move and said it confirmed "Israel's transformation into a fascist state".
The German government "sharply" criticised the bill while the governments of Ireland, Norway, Spain and Slovenia -- which have all recognised a Palestinian state -- issued a joint statement condemning the move.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said UNRWA provided "an irreplaceable lifeline to the Palestinian people" and warned of the "devastating consequences" of implementing the bill.
"This is intolerable. It contravenes Israel's obligations and responsibilities, and threatens the lives and health of all those who depend on UNRWA," he wrote on X.
- No operations in Israel -
The ban, which enters into force in 90 days, would effectively prevent UNRWA from operating in Israel and also target its operations in east Jerusalem, where it currently provides some essential services such as cleaning, education and healthcare in certain neighbourhoods.
It is also feared that UNRWA employees in the West Bank could potentially face problems moving from one place to another as well as accessing east Jerusalem or Israel because they would lose their ability to coordinate with the Israeli authorities to cross checkpoints.
The same fears apply to visas and permits delivered by Israeli authorities.
UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies have accused Israeli authorities of restricting aid flows into Gaza, where almost all of the territory's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war.
The agency itself has suffered heavy losses, with at least 223 of its staff killed and two-thirds of the agency's facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed since the war began.
The war in Gaza erupted with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 43,020 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, figures that the UN considers reliable.
UNRWA was created in 1949 to support Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.
A lifeline for Palestinians
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, whose operations in Israel were banned by the Israeli parliament on Monday, is seen by some as an "irreplaceable" humanitarian lifeline in Gaza, but as an accomplice of Hamas by others.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has for more than seven decades provided essential aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees.
The agency has also long been a lightening rod for harsh Israeli criticism, which has ramped up dramatically since the start of the war in Gaza, following Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks last year.
UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has seen more than 220 of its staff killed in the war there -- even as it has faced dramatic funding cuts and calls for its dismantlement amid Israeli accusations that some of its workers took part in the October 7 attack.
- Created in wake of war -
UNRWA was established in December 1949 by the UN General Assembly in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli conflict following Israel's creation in May 1948.
The agency, which began its operations on May 1, 1950, was tasked with assisting some 750,000 Palestinians who had been expelled during the war.
It was supposed to be a short-term fix, but in the absence of a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, the General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until June 30, 2026.
- Millions of refugees -
The number of Palestinian refugees under its charge has meanwhile ballooned to nearly six million across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Palestinian refugees are defined as "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict".
Their descendents also have refugee status.
- Operations -
UNRWA is unique among UN organisations in its direct service delivery model, and is the main provider of basic public services, including education, healthcare, and social services for registered Palestinian refugees.
It employs more than 30,000 people, mainly Palestinian refugees and a small number of international staff.
The organisation counts 58 official refugee camps and runs more than 700 schools for over 540,000 students.
It also runs 141 primary healthcare facilities, with nearly seven million patient visits each year, and provides emergency food and cash assistance to some 1.8 million people.
- UNRWA in Gaza -
In the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas since 2007, the humanitarian situation was already critical before the war between Israel and Hamas began last October, with more than 80 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
The territory, squeezed between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, counts eight camps and around 1.7 million refugees, the overwhelming majority of the population of 2.4 million, according to the UN.
The situation has spiralled into catastrophe following Hamas's deadly attack inside Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 43,000 people, mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.
Two-thirds of buildings have been damaged and nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced, many of them multiple times, the UN says.
"In the midst of all the upheaval, UNRWA, more than ever, is indispensable. UNRWA, more than ever, is irreplaceable," UN chief Antonio Guterres has said.
UNRWA, which employs some 13,000 people in Gaza, has seen two-thirds of its facilities there damaged or destroyed.
- Israeli criticism -
Israel has long been harshly critical of UNRWA, alleging it is perpetuating the Palestinian refugee problem and that its schools use textbooks that promote hatred of Israel.
Since October 7, the criticism has ballooned, targeting UNRWA in Gaza especially.
In January, Israel accused a dozen of UNRWA's Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7 attack by Hamas.
A series of probes found some "neutrality related issues" at UNRWA, and determined that nine employees "may have been involved" in the October 7 attack, but found no evidence for Israel's chief allegations.
The agency, which traditionally has been funded almost exclusively through voluntary contributions from governments, was plunged into crisis as a string of nations halted their backing over Israel's allegations.
Most donors have since resumed funding.
The barrage of accusations has meanwhile continued, with Israel alleging UNRWA employs "hundreds of Hamas members and even military wing operatives" in Gaza.
Despite objections from the United States and warnings from the UN Security Council, Israeli lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly passed a bill banning UNRWA from working in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem.
60 killed in Israel strikes in Lebanon
Lebanon's health ministry said at least 60 people were killed on Monday in Israeli raids on several areas in the eastern Bekaa Valley, most of them in the Baalbek region.
The health ministry said the tolls covered 12 areas in the Bekaa Valley where militant group Hezbollah holds sway. At least two children were among the dead, it said.
At least 58 others were wounded, the health ministry added, noting that the toll was preliminary as rescue efforts were still underway.
Of the 60 killed, at least 16 deaths were recorded in Al-Alaq, west of Baalbek city, according to the health ministry.
Monday's deaths raise the overall toll to more than 1,700 killed in Lebanon since the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted late last month, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures.
The real number is likely to be higher due to gaps in the data.
Baalbek governor Bachir Khodr decried what he called the "most violent" raids on the area since the start of the conflict.
Baalbek is an impoverished region in the Bekaa Valley that borders Syria.
The heavy strikes there on Monday were not preceded by an evacuation warning.
They came as Israel pounded south Lebanon, including the coastal city of Tyre, according to the official National News Agency.
The Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on September 23 after nearly a year of cross-border fire between the two rivals.
The war has displaced at least 1.3 million people, more than 800,000 inside Lebanon according to the UN's migration agency.
More than half a million people have crossed into Syria, according to Lebanese authorities, most of them Syrians.