^{Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, briefs reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York, Dec. 4, 2024. Credit: Loey Felipe/U.N. Photo.}

By Amelie Botbol and Natan Galula

Israel notified the United Nations on Saturday that it must evacuate all U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) premises in Jerusalem no later than Jan. 30, as Knesset legislation banning the agency’s operations within the Jewish state will take effect on Thursday.

“Israel expects that UNRWA take all the necessary steps to cease its operations in Jerusalem and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city within the stated time frame,” wrote Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon in a letter addressed to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.

Outlawing UNRWA in Israel “came as a direct response to the acute national security risks posed by the widespread infiltration of UNRWA’s ranks by Hamas and other terrorist organizations, and the agency’s persistent refusal to address the very grave and material concerns raised by Israel, and to remedy this intolerable situation,” the letter notes.

Danon stressed that months of talks with the United Nations to address the situation have been met with “blatant disregard.””

The ambassador specified two properties in Jerusalem to be evacuated—one in the Ma’alot Dafna neighborhood and the other in the Kafr Aqab neighborhood, both in the capital’s northeast. He accused UNRWA of flouting Israeli rules on these premises and creating “safety hazards to its staff and local communities.”

The letter continues: “This conduct reflects a clear abuse of UNRWA’s immunities and disregard for local laws and regulations, contrary to its obligations under Article 21 of the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.”

Danon emphasized that Israel’s demand fully aligns with its commitment to its obligations under international law and its readiness to cooperate with the United Nations and its agencies, as long as terrorists do not infiltrate these agencies.

Likud lawmaker Arial Kallner told JNS it was “very important” that UNRWA be kicked out of the country.

“They [UNRWA] should not exist in any other territory or country either,” he added. “We’re talking about an organization that supports terrorism and doesn’t recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state,” he said.  

“They indoctrinate children in Gaza, some of their employees were part of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and many of them are also members or affiliated to Hamas. UNRWA, like the Palestinian Authority, is not part of the solution, it’s the root of the conflict,” he added. 

On Nov. 4, the Israeli parliament terminated the 1967 agreement outlining the terms of its relations with UNRWA. The director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry sent a letter to U.N. General Assembly President Philémon Yang of Cameroon explaining that Jerusalem “withdraws its request issued to UNRWA,” and instead “will continue to work with international partners, including other United Nations agencies, to ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not undermine Israel’s security.”

Then-Foreign Minister Israel Katz said, “UNRWA, whose employees took part in the Oct. 7 massacre and many of whose workers are Hamas operatives, is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip, not part of the solution.”

The United Nations was “provided with countless pieces of evidence regarding Hamas operatives who work at UNRWA and about the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorism, and nothing was done,” he added.

Kallner emphasized that the Knesset decision to ban the agency was the result of a consensus between the coalition and opposition. 

“Instead of treating and helping Palestinian refugees, UNRWA turns them into eternal refugees,  telling grandsons of refugees of 1948 that their homes are in Israel as to not bring about any solution but rather bloodshed,” he said. 

“UNRWA shouldn’t be a player in the sphere, it should be replaced with other humanitarian organizations and we will no longer cooperate with them,” he added. 

Likud MK Amit Halevy told JNS that the atrocities committed on Oct. 7 were connected to UNRWA incitement.

“Thousands of people came into our villages in the Gaza envelope on Oct. 7, 2023. They were horrible people, but very dedicated students of UNRWA,” he said. “They did what they were taught: to kill and rape women.” 

That the agency operates schools in Jerusalem is “absurd,” he added.

“We need to take action, including cutting electricity and water. One of the most important conclusions from Oct. 7 is that we can no longer keep looking at the surface level while ignoring what is inside, and inside you have UNRWA and the PLO; all these are covers. The goal is the same and the method is the same,” he added. 

When on Oct. 7, UNRWA workers dragged Yonatan Samerano’s body into Gaza, Halevy said, they didn’t see a body, they saw real estate, something they could sell.

“There are 13,000 UNRWA workers in Gaza.  All of them are either members of Hamas or married to one of them,” he said. 

“Five hundred of them were military operatives and dozens participated in this massacre. We know about more than 40 of them. UNRWA has one goal, it’s called the right of return and by definition the destruction of Israel. That’s why they insist on turning refugees into eternal ones,” he continued.  

“UNRWA should not exist, not in Gaza, not in Lebanon or Jordan, and the legislation is clear: International UNRWA workers will not have license to work here and shipments that go through Israel will be returned,” he added.

Source: JNS