Israel says UNRWA has 6 days to stop operations in East Jerusalem

Israel told the United Nations on Friday that its relief agency known as UNRWA, a critical lifeline for two million Palestinians during the 15-month war in Gaza, had six days to stop all operations in Jerusalem. East.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said in a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, “UNRWA is required to cease its operations in Jerusalem and evacuate all by 2025.”

The letter was Israel’s first official notice to the United Nations on how it planned to enforce legislation passed by the Israeli Parliament in October banning UNRWA, known officially as the National Relief and of the United Nations’ work for Palestine refugees in the Middle East, to operate on the Israeli territory of the Nations. The measure also prohibited Israeli officials from engaging with UNRWA officials and employees.

The move came after months of tension between the Israeli government and the United Nations agency, which provides food, shelter, health care, job training and education to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. by Israeli, especially following the Hamas-led Hamas. October 7, 2023, attack on Israel which started the war. The agency also helps Palestinians who live in neighboring countries like Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, where Palestinians moved in the founding of Israel have lived for decades.

Israel has accused UNRWA of being infiltrated by Hamas members. But two United Nations investigations found that fewer than 10 employees out of nearly 13,000 were affiliated with the armed Palestinian group, and they were fired.

Two hundred and sixty-nine UNRWA personnel were killed in Gaza – the greatest loss of life among UN employees in any conflict, officials say.