The U.N. Palestine refugees agency (UNRWA) will continue distributing aid in the Palestinian territories despite an Israeli ban set to be enforced by the end of January, its director said Wednesday.
Despite significant international concerns, Israeli lawmakers have passed laws prohibiting the UNRWA from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem.
The agency has faced escalating criticism from Israeli officials since the start of the war in Gaza, which began after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
"We will ... stay and deliver," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said at a conference in Oslo on Wednesday.
"UNRWA's local staff will remain and continue to provide emergency assistance and, where possible, education and primary health care," he added.
Lazzarini noted that the lack of communication between the UNRWA and Israeli authorities due to the ban would make the agency's work in Gaza even more dangerous. The Israeli army has conducted military operations there for 15 months.
Without visas, the UNRWA's non-Palestinian employees will be unable to enter Gaza, and those currently in the area will have to leave, Lazzarini explained.
"Continuing to work will come at considerable personal risk for our Palestinian colleagues," he said.
"This is due to the exceptionally hostile operating environment created by Israel's disregard for international law and a fierce disinformation campaign against the agency," he added.
The UNRWA is considered the backbone of humanitarian operations for Palestinians. It provides aid to about 6 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
The Oct. 7, 2023, incursion resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 46,707 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.
Israel claims that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas incursion.
A series of investigations, including one led by France's former foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, found some "neutrality-related issues" at the UNRWA but emphasized that Israel had not provided evidence for its main allegations.
