Israel has notified the UN that UNRWA will cease operations as of January 30th

Israel has notified the United Nations that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) must cease operations in Jerusalem by January 30. NDTV reported on Saturday, January 25, that.

"UNRWA must cease its operations in Jerusalem and vacate all premises in which it operates no later than January 30, 2025," Israel's post-president to the UN, Danny Danon, said in a letter to the organization's secretary-general, António Guterres.

UNRWA is a UN agency that provides humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. As NDTV notes, it supports about 6 million people.

The Foreign Affairs and Security Commission of the Knesset (Israel's parliament) approved a bill to terminate UNRWA on October 28, 2024. The document prohibits officials from meeting with the agency's staff, granting them Israeli visas or economic benefits. The country's authorities also intend to open criminal cases against UNRWA employees suspected of involvement in terrorist activities and an attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.

Israel's decision was condemned by Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, who stressed that banning UNRWA would have negative consequences for the Middle East and the United Nations itself. The bill was also criticized by UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini, representatives of the Belgian Foreign Ministry, and other officials and associations.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected the territory of Israel to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israel launched retaliatory strikes.