Israel has formally cut ties with UNRWA. What this could mean for Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for years called for UNRWA to be dismantled, accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement.

Israel has formally ended a decades-old cooperation agreement with the United Nations Palestinian relief agency (UNRWA) that covered the protection, movement and diplomatic immunity of the agency in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israel notified the U.N. in a letter on Sunday, as required by a new law adopted by Israel’s parliament that will ban UNRWA’s operations in Israel and prevent Israeli officials from cooperating with it when the law takes effect in late January.

The end of the 1967 agreement, however, is immediate. U.N. lawyers are studying the letter, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Monday, adding that: “UNRWA is continuing to operate today.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for years called for UNRWA to be dismantled, accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement.

UNRWA says the new law leaves its operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza at risk of collapse. Top U.N. officials and the Security Council describe UNRWA as the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza, where Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas have been in conflict for the past year.

“There is no alternative to UNRWA,” Dujarric said.

The United States opposed the Israeli legislation on UNRWA and was studying the Israeli letter to the U.N. to learn what the implications might be, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday.

The amount of aid entering Gaza has plummeted to its lowest level all year, according to U.N. data. A global hunger monitor has warned of looming famine, and the U.N. has repeatedly accused Israel of hindering and blocking attempts to deliver aid, particularly to Gaza’s north.