Arab League to hold emergency meeting on Israeli ban on UNRWA

By Ibrahim Khazen

CAIRO (AA) - The Arab League Wednesday announced holding an emergency session on Thursday to address Israel's decision to block the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating in Palestinian territories.

In a statement, the league said the session, led by Yemen and requested by Jordan, will bring together the League’s permanent representatives at its Cairo headquarters to form a united response to the ban.

The Israeli Knesset passed a bill on Monday banning UNRWA from operating, which would eventually affect its work in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem. The legislation will take effect in 90 days.

Jordan filed a formal request Tuesday for the Arab League to convene this emergency meeting to formulate a collective response to Israel's ban on UNRWA.

Israel has accused UNRWA employees of complicity in the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border incursion by Hamas, alleging that the agency’s educational programs “promote terrorism and hatred.”

UNRWA, headquartered in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, denies the accusations and asserts that it remains neutral, solely focusing on supporting refugees.

The agency, founded by a 1949 UN General Assembly resolution, provides aid and protection to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini responded Monday, calling the ban “unprecedented and dangerous,” and in violation of the UN Charter.

The Israeli army has continued a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 43,160 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the territory’s entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its brutal war on Gaza.