EU Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrell has called on Israel to ensure that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, can continue its activities, sounding the alarm over a draft law that could hamper the agency’s work.
“The European Union expresses its serious concerns about the draft law on UNRWA currently being discussed in the Israeli parliament,” Borrell said in a statement on Saturday.
The Israeli parliament is reportedly planning to introduce a law to classify the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization and ban its operations on Israeli soil. The bill could be passed soon.
Israel accuses the Gaza Strip aid organization of being infiltrated by the Islamist Hamas group. Several employees of the organization are also said to have been involved in the October 7 attacks.
The UN also concluded that some of its employees were most likely involved in the massacre in Israel.
“The EU strongly supports the call of the UN Secretary General in this regard and shares the concern that this bill, if adopted, would have disastrous consequences, causing the UN Agency to continue to provide its services and protection to Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank. , including East Jerusalem and Gaza,” Borrell said.
“The EU urges the Israeli authorities to ensure that UNRWA is allowed to continue carrying out its vital work in accordance with the mandate adopted by the UN General Assembly,” the EU’s top diplomat said.
“UNRWA provides essential services to millions of people in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and across the region, including Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, and is a pillar of regional stability. It also plays a fundamental role in ensuring the conditions for a credible path to the two-state solution.”
