Certainly, the UN system is in urgent need of reform.
Israel’s decision to ban, by law, the UNRWA — the agency formed over 70 years ago to provide aid to Palestinian refugees — is a self-goal. The Knesset passed two bills on Monday: The first makes it illegal for Israeli officials to have any contact with UNRWA personnel and the second will prevent the agency from entering the West Bank and Gaza. In effect, the millions of Palestinians who have been injured and displaced and are facing severe health and nutrition issues will be left with little or no aid. This move comes weeks after Israel barred UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also called the UN an “anti-semitic swamp”. By its obduracy, Israel is compromising its diplomatic interests, as well as the humanitarian needs of Palestinians, who have suffered from the retaliation mounted after the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas.
Certainly, the UN system is in urgent need of reform. There is, however, a hypocrisy in using the skewed structure of the Security Council to escape consequences and censure on the one hand, and target the UN’s relief operations on the other: The US has used its veto at least 34 times in favour of Israel. Since the current conflict began, over 200 UNRWA staff have been killed. Israel contends that some of the UNRWA’s work is used as a shield by terrorist organisations. The UN has not ignored these allegations: Soon after the October 7 attacks, 16 Western countries suspended funding to UNRWA — this was restored after it sacked nine people. With Israel’s war expanding across the region to Lebanon and Iran, the attack on the UNRWA, the Secretary-General and the deaths of UN personnel close diplomatic doors when they are needed to open wider.
As Guterres has pointed out, expelling the UNRWA will not change the refugee status of Palestinians. Over a year after October 7, many of the hostages still haven’t been rescued, Gaza has become a place of unrelenting suffering. Tel Aviv’s extremism and pursuit of the chimera of “absolute security” now threaten Israel’s own national interests as well. It is only by engaging with the global community, which includes aid organisations, that there is hope of finding a road to peace.
