UN votes to back Unrwa as US weighs sanctions

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly voted to back the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion that Israel allow the entry of aid into Gaza via United Nations agencies, including the one specifically established for Palestinian refugees - the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa).

Unrwa was established in 1949 to provide for the three-quarters of a million Palestinians expelled from their homeland during the Nakba, upon the creation of the State of Israel. 

It delivers healthcare, schooling and food aid. 

A total of 139 countries voted in favour of the resolution, and 19 abstained. And 12 votes against it included Israel, the US, Hungary, and Argentina. 

The world's top court had ruled in October that Israel's ban on the UN's main humanitarian provider to Palestinians and its restrictions on aid to Gaza and the occupied West Bank are inconsistent with international law.

The advisory opinion came six months after hearings by the ICJ, where more than 40 states and international organisations presented evidence, mostly arguing that Israel had breached its international legal obligations to facilitate the entry of aid to the Palestinian population under its occupation.

Only Israel, the US and Hungary disputed the majority opinion in The Hague, arguing for an interpretation of international humanitarian law in favour of limiting such obligation due to military necessity and Israel's security.

The court rejected those arguments. 

Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini welcomed Friday's result on X, writing that the vote "has given a strong endorsement to the ruling by the International Court of Justice that claims about Unrwa being infiltrated by Hamas are not substantiated, nor are allegations that Unrwa is not a neutral organisation".

"This vote is an important sign of support for Unrwa from the overwhelming majority of the international community," he added. "Unrwa is the key humanitarian actor in the occupied Palestinian territory, & everything must be done to facilitate our work, not hinder or prevent it." 

Israel's ambassador to the UN, also writing on X, said the resolution was "calling on Israel to cooperate with terrorism. That will not happen." 

"Unrwa = hotbed of terrorism," Danny Danon said. "We will not forget that an Unrwa 'social worker' kidnapped Yonatan Samerano’s lifeless body to Gaza. ‎For the sake of peace in the world, Unrwa must go."

Potential sanctions

In January 2024, at the height of what experts have called an Israeli genocide in Gaza, Israel accused Unrwa of harbouring members of Hamas and being complicit in terrorist activity.

After conducting an internal investigation, Unrwa fired nine members of its Gaza-based staff because "they may have" had some involvement in the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel. 

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Evidence of that involvement has so far not been publicly disclosed. 

Nonetheless, the US, which had always been the largest donor to Unrwa since its founding, halted its transfers under the former Biden administration.

The Trump administration has taken a harder line, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying earlier this year that Unrwa can have no future in the running of Gaza.

Speaking to reporters in October from the headquarters of the US Civil-Military Coordination Center in Israel, which is overseeing the Gaza ceasefire, Rubio said the organisation is a "subsidiary of Hamas".

“Unrwa is not going to play any role in [providing aid]," he said.

This week, Reuters reported that the US is considering sanctioning Unrwa, which would effectively shut down its ability to carry out US dollar transactions and use its banking systems.

Middle East Eye reached out to the State Department about the report, and was told in an emailed statement that Unrwa "is a corrupt organization with a proven track record of aiding and abetting terrorists".

"The Trump Administration is currently exploring all options to hold it accountable. Everything is on the table. No final decisions have yet been made." 

Unrwa does not just operate in Gaza, but also in the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, where tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees live in camps. 

'Indispensable humanitarian actor'

William Deere, the director of the Unrwa Representative Office in Washington, DC, told MEE in a written statement that US sanctions "would be unprecedented and would transgress multiple obligations of a Member State under the UN Charter".

Unrwa, however, has not been contacted by US officials, he said. 

"Multiple independent entities have assessed Unrwa and found it to be an impartial and indispensable humanitarian actor," Deere wrote. 

The executive director of Unrwa-USA - a separate legal entity registered as a non-profit in the US with its own board of directors - told MEE that sanctions would mean it can no longer transfer US taxpayer donations to their intended destination: Unrwa's operational hubs in Gaza.

"If Unrwa is declared outrageously and unwarrantedly and unprecedentedly a foreign terrorist organisation, we would not be in a position to continue to send funds to them, and these funds are critical for the humanitarian relief of those suffering terribly," Mara Kronenfeld said. 

"If the US goes forward on this threat, of course, on our end, Unrwa-USA will fully comply with the law, as we always have," she added. 

On Friday, the foreign ministers of eight Muslim and Arab countries issued a statement of support for Unrwa, citing its "indispensable role... in protecting the rights of Palestinian refugees and caring for their affairs".

The signatories were Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar, all of which are working closely with US President Donald Trump to develop the next stage of what has been a repeatedly-violated ceasefire in Gaza.