Israel fires UNRWA as the agency to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza
The belief that Israel was expected to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza was absurd from the beginning of the Gaza War.
Israel did not start this war; Hamas did.
And the circumstances demanded that Israel respond fiercely and, once and for all, destroy Hamas and its military operations.
We need to remember, too, that the Palestinians voted for the government of Hamas in 2006, in spite of its reputation for terrorism.
Nothing in this situation suggests that Israel is responsible for taking care of the Palestinians; Hamas governed Gaza and its people and taking care of them falls on their shoulders.
Still, Israel is a compassionate country. It allowed UNRWA, an agency supported by the United Nations but not officially part of it, to step in and facilitate the delivery of food and medicine. At times, the deliveries were hijacked by Hamas; at other times the dangers of war made delivery impossible. But no other organization appeared able to take over these responsibilities. When deliveries slowed down, Israel was blamed.
Unfortunately, a certain number of UNRWA staffers, an organization which was already reputed to support Hamas, participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas raid into Israel. Israel already knew that UNRWA collaborated with Hamas by hiding weapons and munitions in their schools and offices, and using medical facilities as communication centers.
Hamas and UNRWA denied this information, but much of it had been confirmed over the years or when the hospitals were raided by the IDF during the war. When UNRWA participated in the Hamas raid, that was probably the last straw for the Israelis after many other bold exploitations against them.
Thus, on Oct. 28, the Israel Knesset voted on two laws to fire UNRWA:
The first vote passed 92-10 and followed a fiery debate between supporters of the law and its opponents, mostly members of Arab parliamentary parties. The second law was approved 87-9.
An English language account on X for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was ready to work with international partners to ensure it ‘continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.’ The post did not say how, and it was not clear how the flow of aid would be affected once these bills take effect.
The law will not go into effect for 60-90 days.
How did UNRWA’s work with the Palestinians come about?
UNRWA was established in 1949 with a temporary [italics mine] mandate to care for Palestinian refugees displaced during and after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when Arab states attacked Israel after it declared independence. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians either fled or were forced from their homes. Many remain stateless to this day.
The UN agency began operating in 1950 and became permanent as there has been no political agreement to return displaced Palestinians. It provides basic services to millions of registered Palestinian refugees and their descendants in Gaza, the occupied West Bank including annexed East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The agency runs refugee camps, schools and health clinics and is a major employer for thousands of Palestinians.
No one, including the United Nations, took responsibility for relocating the displaced Palestinians, and since they were fed and clothed by UNRWA, they and their descendants chose to stay. From a population of approximately 63,000 in 1950 in Gaza alone, their numbers are now just over 800,000, and all of them are considered refugees.
Many countries have donated to the Palestinian humanitarian cause:
In 2022, its top government donors were the United States, Germany, the European Union, Sweden, Norway, Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Turkey.
Countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland suspended their funding of the agency when allegations emerged in January that around 12 of UNRWA's Palestinian employees were suspected of involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks. Many have restored funding since.
Why can’t these countries join together to re-establish a humanitarian delivery system if they are so concerned about the plight of the Gazans, while they also design systems to train and re-locate the Palestinians to a new country?
There are critical decisions that need to be made and are long overdue.
First, as mentioned above, another organization will need to be formed to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians as the war continues. This is not Israel’s responsibility, but they may choose to facilitate it.
Second, Israel will likely not consent to a Palestinian state on its border. Although Hamas will be defeated, the seeds of hate will continue to grow and Israel will eventually be attacked again if they live as neighbors; Hamas has not changed its mission to wipe the Jews and Israel off the face of the earth.
Third, the Palestinians should be given the option of migrating to other countries; they should be provided with some starter funds to establish their new homes.
The world must recognize that this conflict was not set off by Israel, but was started by Hamas. The brutality of their actions on Oct. 7 demonstrates that they are not fit to participate in a government of the Palestinians in any manner. The Arab countries surrounding Israel have made clear their unwillingness to take in the Palestinians.
Why should the Israelis be expected to have them living next door?
Image: Logo, via Wikimedia Commons // public domain