The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an opinion on the legality of Israel’s latest legislative attack on the primary humanitarian group for Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere as experts and advocates say such attacks warrant expulsion from the international body.
The resolution, brought by Norway, passed on Thursday, 137 to 12, with the United States, Argentina and Israel voting against it.
It calls into question the Israeli Knesset’s bills baselessly labeling the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as a “terrorist” organization and banning the group’s operation in the occupied Palestinian territories. It also requests that the ICJ clarify Israel’s obligations with regard to providing humanitarian assistance to Palestinians living under full Israeli control.
The resolution expresses “deep concern at measures taken by Israel that impede assistance to the Palestinian people” — something that U.S. leaders have acknowledged, but refuse to act on. It comes after a landmark ICJ opinion issued in July found that Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal under international law, and that states must therefore disengage with Israeli occupation forces.
The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, hailed the resolution’s passage.
“A new welcome milestone today: the majority of UN member states stand in solidarity with Palestine Refugees,” Lazzarini said on social media. “They question the legality of the Israeli Parliament bills aimed at dismantling UNRWA, depriving Palestinians from lifesaving assistance and the right to education for hundreds of thousands of girls and boys currently living in the rubble of Gaza.”
Israel has long sought to dismantle UNRWA, and has escalated its attacks against the group amid its genocide in Gaza. On top of its legislative attacks and the military’s mass killing of UNRWA employees in the past 14 months, Israel is also running an international ad campaign aimed at smearing UNRWA in order to garner support for its assaults on the agency.
The agency is crucial for the survival of millions of Palestinians, serving as the primary coordinator of the humanitarian aid operation in Gaza and providing critical services like education and health care in the occupied Palestinian territories and beyond. Amid Israel’s attacks, UN officials and other humanitarian groups have repeatedly emphasized that UNRWA is irreplaceable.
“Beyond our humanitarian and human development services, UNRWA is also the custodian of Palestinian history and identity,” Lazzarini explained at a UN meeting this month. “Since its establishment, the Agency has maintained and updated family files of registered Palestine Refugees. These files consist of some 30 million documents and span up to five generations. They document everything from family composition to place of origin, to the circumstances of displacement in 1948.”
“This is essential for protecting Palestine Refugee rights under international law,” Lazzarini went on. “By providing services that drive human development and protect basic rights, and by recognizing the refugee status of Palestinians, UNRWA embodies the commitment of the international community to addressing the plight of Palestine Refugees.”
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese recently said that Israel’s attacks on UNRWA alone — even disregarding Israel’s genocidal assault of Gaza — warrant the suspension of Israel’s UN membership.
But the international attacks on the agency continue as a result of Israel’s propaganda campaign. On Friday, the Swedish foreign ministry announced that it is ending its financial support of UNRWA in 2025 because of Israel’s ban. The country claims it will instead fund aid to Gaza through other means, like funding to groups like the World Food Programme and UNICEF — despite experts saying that other agencies cannot replace the work of UNRWA.
Lazzarini called the decision “disappointing” and said it “comes at the worst time” for Palestinian refugees in a statement.
“This is a sad day for Palestine Refugees and the multilateral system which Sweden has spearheaded,” said Lazzarini. “Defunding UNRWA now will undermine decades of Sweden’s investment in human development including by denying access to education for hundreds of thousands of girls and boys across the region.”
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