Britain has urged Israel to “step back from the brink” and drop attempts to effectively ban the main aid agency still operating in Gaza.
Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds expressed concerns as she responded to an urgent question on the Israeli Knesset’s approval of two new laws that declare the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) a terrorist organisation.
The laws, which will not come into effect immediately, would ban UNRWA from operating on Israeli soil, effectively barring it from working in Gaza or the West Bank where access is controlled by Israel.
Ms Dodds said “jeopardising” UNRWA’s mandate and its ability to carry out lifesaving work is “unacceptable”.
She told the House of Commons: “Removing UNRWA from the equation would make an already unacceptable humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) far worse.
“It also undermines, of course, the work of the United Nations more widely.
“We’re working closely with our international partners to urge the Israeli government to step back from the brink and ensure that the legislation passed yesterday in the Knesset does not stop UNRWA being able to carry out its vital role in the OPTs.
“UNRWA is indispensable in the provision of aid for Palestinians. No other agency can get aid in to Gaza at the scale needed. All humanitarian actors depend on UNRWA’s distribution network to get aid to those who need it most.”
Ms Dodds added: “We will continue to use every lever we have to put pressure on the Israeli government not to implement this legislation.
“It’s not in its own interests and it’s certainly not in the interests of the Palestinian people, nor indeed of humanity.”
In July, the Government announced it would overturn the suspension of UK funding to UNRWA.
The Foreign Office initially paused any future funding for UNRWA in January due to allegations that staff from the aid organisation had been involved in the October 7 2023 Hamas attack which began the latest outbreak of violence in the Middle East.
Catherine Colonna, the French former foreign affairs minister, led an independent review group to assess whether UNRWA was “doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality”.
