Moscow called the ban on UNRWA in Israel a violation of international law

The ban by the Israeli Knesset on the activities of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) violates international legal norms and should be condemned. This was stated by the Russian Foreign Ministry on February 1.

Israel notified the UN on January 25 that UNRWA must cease its work in Jerusalem by January 30 and vacate all the premises it occupies by that date. Then, on Jan. 30, two laws came into force banning UNRWA's activities in some "sovereign territory of Israel" and banning Israeli contacts with representatives of the organization, Russian diplomats said.

"The mentioned laws and the actions of the Israeli side based on them violate universally recognized international legal norms and principles. <...> Such arbitrary steps, fraught with the gravest humanitarian consequences for the Palestinians, cause deep disappointment and deserve condemnation," the diplomatic ministry added.

In addition, the press release noted, as a result of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, 273 UNRWA employees were killed, which was the largest single loss to the UN since its establishment 80 years ago.

Thus, the Foreign Ministry emphasized that the UNRWA mission has served for years as a support for peaceful Palestinians and a guarantee of the refugees' right of return and should be continued until the final peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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Earlier, on January 28, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya at a meeting of the Security Council of the organization reported on the Russian Federation's appeal to the United States to force Israel to lift the UNRWA ban. He noted that Israel could not have so cavalierly violated international law and challenged the world if the US had not provided it with such full military and economic support. UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini, the Belgian Foreign Ministry and other officials and associations also criticized the bill.

Before that, on October 28, 2024, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee (Israel's unicameral parliament) approved a bill to terminate UNRWA. According to the document, officials are not allowed to meet with the agency's employees, issue them Israeli visas or give them economic benefits.

In addition, the Israeli authorities said they were going to initiate criminal proceedings against those UNRWA employees who, according to the country's leadership, may be involved in terrorist activities and an attack by the Palestinian radical movement Hamas on the territory of Israel on October 7, 2023.