- Israel labels UNRWA a “terrorist organization
- “UNRWA falsely accused of collaborating with Hamas
- International condemnation and potential UN response
Israel has broken numerous red lines since beginning its genocidal assault against the Palestinians.
Neither the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ highest judicial organ, to halt its “plausible” genocide in Gaza, nor the damning advisory opinion of the same court ordering it to end its illegal occupation of Palestine and apartheid policies against Palestinians, gave Israel pause. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s request that arrest warrants be issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had no impact on its actions. In reality, not even the growing condemnation from some of its supporters is forcing Israel to reconsider its homicidal apartheid and genocidal tactics.
And now Israel has crossed another red line by defying the whole world community of nations, including the United Nations. The Israeli Knesset gave preliminary approval to a measure labeling the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) a “terrorist organization” on July 22.
This current campaign follows last January’s – initially successful – farce in which Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of participating in the October 7 attack by Hamas and other Palestinian factions against it, as well as alleged widespread collaboration between the UN agency and Hamas.
The UNRWA High Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, and UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, replied to the claim by sacking all UN staff members listed by Israel based on unverified allegations. The decision appears to have prompted some Western donors to halt their support for the humanitarian agency, which employs over 30,000 people and is obliged by the General Assembly to provide essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees.
In April 2024, however, an independent examination of Israel’s allegations against UNRWA, commissioned by Guterres and overseen by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, concluded that Israel’s broad charges of collaboration between Hamas and UNRWA were unfounded. No evidence has been shown to link the 12 alleged UNRWA employees.
As a result, donor countries such as Germany, Italy, Australia, and Canada gradually restored their much-needed support for the agency despite the mounting and urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza. On July 19, David Lammy, the UK’s new foreign secretary, announced the restoration of financing for humanitarian help, stating that it is a moral duty in the face of such a calamity. UNRWA is critically essential to these efforts. “No other agency can provide aid on the scale required.” Even such declarations from loyal allies could not persuade Israel to stop assaulting the UN organization.
Whether or not it becomes law, the Israeli Knesset’s decision to classify UNRWA as a terrorist organization is an unprecedented attack on the United Nations, given the refugee agency was formed by the General Assembly in 1949. If it becomes Israeli law, the terrorist designation will provide a domestic legal cover (albeit in violation of international law) for the Israeli regime to attack UNRWA’s staff and infrastructure, as it has already done by murdering nearly 200 personnel, but this time without having to justify itself or claim that the slaughter of UNRWA staffers was “tragic mistakes” whenever it faces criticism from its allies.
If it officially declares UNRWA a “terrorist organization” under domestic law, Israel’s elimination of UNRWA’s 30,000 staff, including, presumably, its head Philippe Lazzarini, would become not only “a right, but indeed a duty,” to quote US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has repeated ad nauseam since October 7 what the ICJ considers illegal, namely the use of force to defend an unlawful occupation. It is against this backdrop that the UN should respond decisively to the current Israeli provocation before the mass massacre of UNRWA staff begins.
In April, Lazzarini informed the UN Security Council: “Today, an insidious campaign to end UNRWA operations is underway, with serious implications for international peace and security.” This campaign is progressing, and given its frightening intentions, Guterres should reply forcefully and honestly. Once attacks on UN staff and facilities begin under the lauded Israeli legislation, it will be too late to stop the killings. He is already aware, as he has indicated, that Israeli authorities unjustly hold many UNRWA humanitarian workers and are reportedly abused and even tortured. Once passed, the proposed law will unleash a wave of repression and mass slaughter of UN personnel.
The bill would also place Israel’s allies in a bind. If they continue to pay UNRWA, which they see as a humanitarian imperative, they will be assisting and abetting a “terrorist organization” under Israeli law. It remains to be seen how Lammy and other administrations that support Israel will walk that tightrope, as well as how Tel Aviv will react.
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A United Nations member state has not legally designated a UN entity as a terrorist group. As a result, an Israeli law labeling UNRWA a “terrorist organization” would place the UN on unfamiliar ground. By doing so, Israel would effectively put Guterres, whose resignation it has repeatedly requested, in charge of a “terrorist organization.”
Should Israel breach that threshold, the Secretary-General, the General Assembly, and the Security Council will be forced to conclude that Israel’s continued membership in the UN is not only inconsistent with its charter but also in direct conflict with it.
Thus, if this law is passed, serious consideration should be given to taking action against the rogue Israeli regime by Article 6 of the UN Charter, which states that “a Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.”
Secretary-General Guterres should take the lead in convincing the Security Council and the General Assembly that having a member state declare him and his team terrorists would be scandalous and unacceptable. In practice, he would need to show leadership by pushing the President of the United States to cease protecting Israel in the Security Council and imposing consequences for Israel’s latest insult to the whole international community.
