UNRWA rejects claims of a replacement aid agency, after Israel voted to ban its operations in Gaza and the West Bank
UNRWA is the main provider of food aid, medical services and education for around three million Palestinians.
In short:
UNRWA staff in Jerusalem are preparing for a "legal guillotine" to come down on the organisation, after Israel's parliament announced a ban on its operations in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
UNRWA is the largest provider of aid to millions of Palestinians, and Israeli politicians had accused it of being infiltrated by Hamas.
What's next?
The international community has condemned the Knesset's decision, and there are questions as to whether Israel can find a replacement aid agency in the next 90 days.
There is an eerie quiet inside the walls of the United Nation's Palestinian aid agency's compound in East Jerusalem.
Behind its large metal gate, painted in trademark sky blue, offices and warehouses of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) once buzzing with activity are half empty.
"There is a sense of concern because of what may happen in coming months, how we would need to adapt to that," spokesman in Jerusalem Jonathan Fowler tells the ABC.
"But if we didn't have a sliver of hope, we wouldn't be able to continue doing what we do."
News of the late night decision by Israel's parliament, the Knesset, to ban UNRWA's operations in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories had kept staff awake into the early hours of the morning.
In their view, the full impact is still not clear
"Obviously we have to plan in certain senses for the fact that there would be an attempt to bring down a legal guillotine on our operations within the space of three months," Mr Fowler said.
"But there are already certain aspects to the legislation passed which indicate that, for example, the authorities need to find alternatives to us.
Shufat is a Palestinian refugee camp in Jeruselum.
"We're clear there is no alternative to UNRWA — but if the authorities are questing for one and do not find it, what does that actually mean in terms of the timeline of the implementation as well?"
Even before Monday night's vote, only around a quarter of its staff were coming into the compound daily.
UNRWA said Palestinian employees were being blocked from travelling from the West Bank into East Jerusalem, and Israel was refusing to grant visas to its international staff.
Some local Israelis had tried to set fire to the compound twice, according to video shared by local media and UNRWA, with fears the alleged arson attacks could ignite fuel kept in the compound.
In May, the Israel Land Authority informed UNRWA that it had 30 days to vacate its Jerusalem premises, and earlier this month the Israel Land Authority announced it would build some 1,500 housing units on the premises.
Spokesperson Mr Fowler says he is clear there is no alternative to the 75-year-old agency.
The city's Deputy Mayor Arieh King reportedly threatened to shut off UNRWA's water supply if it did not leave.
"They're all part of an overall campaign to just get rid of us," Mr Fowler said.
'If you take the backbone out of the body, the body falls apart'
The case to ban UNRWA's operations in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza is based on an argument that the agency is a threat to Israel's safety.
That flows from accusations levelled by Israel that UNRWA staff aided Hamas in the deadly October 7 attacks and in the months after the war in Gaza began.
Jonathan Fowler says there are aspects to the legislation indicating authorities need to find alternatives [to UNRWA].
"We've always taken those allegations seriously, we have investigated, staff have been fired," Mr Fowler said.
"I in absolutely no way minimise the nature of the allegations, but the allegations are also entirely unrepresentative of the agency as a whole.
"Nine people out of an organisation of 30,000 across the region, including 13,000 in the Gaza Strip – in no one's wildest fantasies can that be characterised as the entire organisation being infected, infiltrated."
Hundreds of UNRWA staff have also been killed during the war in Gaza.
The legislation now adopted by the Knesset makes it illegal for Israeli officials to deal with the agency.
Children play soccer in the UNRWA Aida refugee camp in the West Bank, near Bethlehem.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) control all access in and out of Gaza, including along the territory's border with Egypt – so even if UNRWA wanted to try to get aid in, the IDF would not be allowed to issue permits allowing that to happen.
It effectively smothers the 75-year-old agency, which is the main provider of food aid, medical services and education for around 3 million Palestinians.
Israel insists there will be other agencies which can fill the void – a point unsurprisingly disputed by UNRWA.
"If you take the backbone out of a body, the body falls apart," Mr Fowler said.
Arab politicians accuse their Jewish counterparts of hypocrisy
The decision in the Knesset was the culmination of months of fiery rhetoric from the Israeli government and lawmakers outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.
While the final legislation did not go so far as to designate UNRWA as a terrorist organisation – something originally planned but dropped because it was deemed legally problematic – members of the Knesset (MK) repeatedly described the agency of being tied to terrorist activity during the tense debate in the Knesset.
The case to ban UNRWA’s operations in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza is based on an argument that the agency is a threat to Israel’s safety.
"We decided that this terror organisation cannot live next to us," bill sponsor MK Ron Katz told the ABC.
Arab MKs accused their colleagues of double standards – one describing the country of having a "fascist atmosphere".
"Even in the Knesset there is a minister who is a terrorist and they aren't getting rid of the government," Ahmad Tibi told the chamber.
He is referring to national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has eight previous convictions, including supporting a terrorist organisation.
A number of countries, including Australia, suspended funding to UNRWA in January after Israel accused 12 Palestinians of being UNRWA employees who took part in the October 7 attacks.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong later reinstated Australian contributions, after an independent investigation by the UN.
Political scientist Menachem Klein from Bar-Ilan University said banning UNRWA will only make the situation worse for Israel, given it will be expected to take up the mantle of providing support to the Palestinian population.
The Shu’fat refugee camp in East Jerusalem is a community built and supported by UNRWA.
"Without UNRWA, the problem will be much more severe, much more acute," he said.
"Israel will be blamed also for the misery of today, not only the past misery."
He argued the real reason why Israel was trying to dismantle UNRWA was to sideline the issue of Palestinian refugees.
Australia is among countries criticising Israel for the decision, with the United States suggesting military aid to Israel could be in jeopardy if it cannot guarantee the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
MK Ron Katz said other countries did not properly understand the situation.
"They didn't see the evidence, they shouldn't speak," he said.
"I think that now the world will realise that [UNRWA] wasn't as big as they thought.
"I think that they're going to see that the Palestinian people … it's going to get even better for them."
Norway is now flagging it will ask the UN General Assembly to consider a resolution asking the International Court of Justice for an opinion on Israel's obligations to provide aid to Palestinians.
Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem too scared to speak out against Israel
The Shu'fat refugee camp in East Jerusalem lies in the shadow of Israel's West Bank barrier wall.
It is a community built and supported by UNRWA over decades, after it was established in the 1960s.
Everyone the ABC spoke to was too scared to publicly criticise Israel, fearful of being targeted by police and security services.
As residents of East Jerusalem, they can cross into Israel with more ease than other Palestinians in the West Bank and have access to things like Israeli healthcare — rights they do not want to jeopardise.
The Shu’fat refugee camp was established in the 1960s.
But a number of residents – including some who were born in the camp decades ago – said the quality of UNRWA services in the camp had suffered.
They said Israel made it hard for staff wanting to work in schools and medical clinics to come into the camp daily, passing through militarised checkpoints.
As the ABC was leaving the camp, dozens of Israeli police decked out in riot gear stormed Shu'fat – a reminder of the iron grip Israel has on the Palestinian population.
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