Israel terminates cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon announced.
“Following the legislation on UNRWA, we officially informed the President of the General Assembly of the termination of cooperation with the organization. Despite the overwhelming evidence we submitted to the UN highlighting how Hamas infiltrated UNRWA, the UN did nothing to address this reality,” the diplomat said in a statement.
“Israel will continue to cooperate with humanitarian organizations but not with organizations that promote terrorism against the State of Israel,” he added.
A week ago, the Israeli parliament passed two bills banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and barring Israeli authorities from contacting the UN agency, the main provider of aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with Israel saying that some of the UN agency’s staff have ties to Palestinian movement Hamas. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned that the move effectively delegitimized the agency’s efforts to provide aid to Palestinian refugees.
