Türkiye has joined the growing international condemnation of an Israeli decision to ban the U.N. relief agency UNRWA from operating in the country.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the Israeli decision was a clear violation of international law that aimed to prevent displaced Palestinians from returning home.
Israel's parliament passed a law Monday to ban UNRWA from operating inside Israel, alarming some of Israel's Western allies who fear this will worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the move aimed to disrupt efforts to reach a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding UNRWA provided vital help to Palestinians.
"It is the legal and moral obligation of the international community to take a strong stance against attempts to ban UNRWA, which was established by a U.N. General Assembly resolution," the ministry said.
"As the Chair of the Working Group on the Financing of UNRWA, Türkiye will continue to provide political and financial support to the Agency," it added.
Türkiye has been fiercely critical of Israel's offensives in Gaza and Lebanon. It has halted all trade with Israel, applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court, and repeatedly called for an end to Western support of Israel along with international measures to stop its assaults.
Ankara was not alone in its condemnation as Israel also faced a mounting international backlash after its parliament approved the bill.
Despite objections from the United States and warnings from the U.N. Security Council, Israeli lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the bill banning UNRWA from working in Israel and the occupied East Jerusalem.
Israel strictly controls all humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza, and lawmakers also passed a measure prohibiting Israeli officials from working with UNRWA and its employees.
For more than seven decades, UNRWA has provided essential aid, schooling, and health care to Palestinian refugees in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere.
"There is a deep connection between the ... organization (Hamas) and UNRWA, and Israel cannot put up with it," Yuli Edelstein, one of the lawmakers who sponsored the bill, said in parliament as he presented the proposal.
Palestinian resistance group Hamas called the bill an act of "Zionist aggression," while its ally Islamic Jihad described the ban as "an escalation in the genocide."
Even several of Israel's Western allies voiced disquiet at the ban, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying Britain was "gravely concerned."
Germany – which has been a blatant supporter of Israel – warned it would "effectively make UNRWA's work in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem impossible ... jeopardizing vital humanitarian aid for millions of people."
U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said the Israeli law could have "devastating consequences" if implemented and "would likely prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work."
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned that the vote "sets a dangerous precedent."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on social media that Israel was "ready" to continue providing aid to Gaza "in a way that does not threaten Israel's security."
