The Arab Parliament, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman on Sunday condemned an Israeli bill aimed at designating the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization.
In a statement shared to X ( formerly Twitter), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar expressed that Israeli authorities’ attempt to designate UNRWA as a terrorist organization aims to strip it of its diplomatic immunity and criminalize its activities, thereby depriving Palestinians of its “necessary services”. It called for support from the international community to condemn the bill and reaffirmed its support for the UN agency. Saudi Arabia echoed similar sentiments in a statement on X, adding that Israel, as the occupying power, must abide by its obligations under international law and international humanitarian law and “stop obstructing the work of international organizations”.
The Foreign Ministry of Oman also condemned the bill, warning of “the consequences of undermining the agency in its role caring for more than two million Palestinians who face severe living conditions.” It further reiterated “the importance of implementing UN resolutions that demand the entry of urgent humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip without any obstacles”.
The Arab Parliament published a statement on X stating that the Arab Observatory for Human Rights (AOFHR) warned against the bill, which it said constituted new war crimes against Palestinians. Furthermore, the AOFHR urged international human rights organizations to mobilize efforts to prevent the classifications of the UNRWA as a terrorist organization, stating that such actions threaten the lives of 6.4 million Palestinian refugees, including two million refugees in the Gaza Strip who have been exposed to aggression and genocidal war crimes for more than seven months.
The Israeli parliament (Knesset) passed a preliminary motion to approve the bill classifying UNRWA as a terrorist organization on May 30, the bill would see the closure of the agency’s offices in Israel and strip its staff of diplomatic immunities. Following an order from Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf to evict the organization from Israeli-owned land, the Israel Land Authority informed UNRWA that it must vacate its East Jerusalem offices in Ma’alot Dafna within 30 days.
High Representative of the EU Joseph Borrell also condemned the bill, stating:
The European Union is deeply concerned about discussions in the Israeli Knesset on designating UNRWA as a terrorist organisation, and removing its staff’s immunities and privileges. The EU is also concerned that the Israeli Land Authority ordered UNRWA to vacate its East Jerusalem premises within the next 30 days.
The EU condemns any attempts to label a UN agency as a terrorist organisation. We recall the crucial and irreplaceable role of UNRWA in the humanitarian response in Gaza. UNRWA provides vital services to millions of people in Gaza, the West Bank, as well as across the region, including in Lebanon and Jordan.
Doctors Without borders’ secretary general Christopher Lockyear labeled the bill as “an outrageous attack on humanitarian assistance and an act of collective punishment against the Palestinian people”, urging Israel’s allies to stand against such actions and guarantee UNRWA can provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
The move to label UNRWA as a terrorist organization follows reports that 12 of its staff members were part of the October 7 Hamas offensive on Israel and that more members had links in one way or another to the organization which has been designated as a terrorist outfit by several countries, including the US and Canada, and the EU, which resulted in several countries suspending of funding for the UNRWA. However, the European Commission (EC) has increased its support for Palestinians by allocating an extra EUR 68 million through international partners, adding to the EUR 82 million already designated for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in 2024.
