Israel banning UNRWA is yet MORE ethnic cleansing – but not for the reasons you might think

Israel’s parliament just passed a bill that would ban the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from working in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, despite objections from the US. However, Israel banning UNRWA will aid in its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This is because the UN agency holds nearly all records for Palestinian refugees – dating back to before 1948.

Israel banning UNRWA: the threats became reality

Lawmakers began voting on the bill on Monday night after years of harsh Israeli criticism of UNRWA, which has only increased since the start of the war in Gaza following Hamas’s deadly 7 October attacks last year.

Israel’s ban on UNRWA – which has provided essential aid and assistance across Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades – would be a blow to humanitarian work in Gaza.

The US said on Monday it was “deeply concerned” about the bill, reiterating the “critical” role the agency plays in distributing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

Britain’s foreign secretary David Lammy expressed “profound regret” that Israel was “shutting down UNRWA’s operations”. Of course, neither country has fully withdrawn weapons’ supplies from Israel during its year-long genocide in Gaza.

UNRWA itself said in a statement that:

It’s outrageous that a member state of the United Nations is working to dismantle a UN agency which also happens to be the largest responder in the humanitarian operation in Gaza.

If it’s implemented it’s a disaster including due to the impact this is likely to have on the humanitarian operation in Gaza and in several parts of the West Bank.

Israeli lies about the agency

In January, Israel accused a dozen of UNRWA’s Gaza employees of involvement in the 7 October attack by Hamas, which sparked the deadliest war in the territory.

A series of probes found some “neutrality related issues” at UNRWA, and determined that nine employees “may have been involved” in the October 7 attack, but found no evidence for Israel’s chief allegations.

Yuli Edelstein, a far-right Likud party lawmaker and one of the sponsors of the bill, said in parliament as he presented the proposal:

There is a deep connection between the terrorist organization (Hamas) and UNRWA and Israel cannot put up with it. There is no place for enemies in the heart of the capital of the Jewish people.

Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem, including the annexed east, as its indivisible capital.

The ban, a combination of two different private members bills presented to the Knesset by lawmakers from both the government and opposition, will effectively prevent UNRWA from operating in Israel.

The legislation also target the agency’s operations in east Jerusalem, where it currently provides some essential services such as cleaning, education, and healthcare in certain neighbourhoods.

Ethnic cleansing by proxy

But it’s UNRWA’s refugee records which fascist Israel is also interested in. As the agency says on its website:

We maintain, update and preserve Palestine refugees’ records.

More than 17 million documents, including birth certificates, property deeds and registration documents, some of them dating back to pre-1948 Palestine, have been scanned and preserved. A new, Agency-wide Refugee Registration Information System helps determine Palestine refugees’ eligibility for UNRWA services and allows them to submit important amendments and changes to their records.

So, get rid on UNRWA, and get rid of all historical records that allow Palestinians to understand and utilise their history. This in turn would make illegal settlements easier for Israel, and prevent any potential law suits.

But it’s also symbolic. Israel banning UNRWA, and therefore Palestinian’s own family records, means the genocidal state is telling them they effectively don’t exist.

This is part of Israel’s ethnic cleansing agenda. Nothing more, nothing less.

Featured image via the Canary

Additional reporting via Agence France-Presse