Israeli parliamentary panel advances bill to cut water, electricity supply of UNRWA

Jerusalem, Dec 16 (PTI) Israeli parliament’s (Knesset) powerful Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to advance a bill prohibiting the supply of electricity or water to facilities owned by UNRWA, which also receives funds from India.

UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, carries out direct relief and works programmes for some 5.6 million registered Palestinian refugees.

Functional since 1950, it is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN Member States.

It has also received aid of over 35 million US Dollars over the years from India.

The 6-0 vote leads to the final two readings needed for the bill to pass into law.

UNRWA provides education, health care and aid to millions of Palestinians and their descendants in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Israel has barred UNRWA from operating on its soil, saying the aid organisation incites violence and has alleged that employees participated in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza.

The new amendment would formalise a process requiring electricity and water providers to withhold or disconnect service from any property whose registered consumer name is UNRWA, unless the registered party submits a sworn declaration that they do not represent or act on behalf of the agency.

The legislation would also allow the government to seize properties in Jerusalem, which had been leased to UNRWA by the state and used as the agency’s offices, “without the need to initiate legal or administrative proceedings”.

Israel has alleged that more than 10 per cent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terror groups, and that educational facilities under the organisation’s auspices consistently incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.

According to Israel, several freed hostages have also testified after returning to Israel that they were held in captivity in UNRWA schools and facilities.

India has been contributing 5 million US Dollars annually to UNRWA to support the agency's core programmes and services, including education, healthcare, relief and social services to Palestinian refugees, amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

In its endeavour to support the Palestinian refugees and their welfare, India has provided financial support to the tune of 35 million US Dollars till the financial year 2023-24.

During an Extraordinary Virtual Ministerial Pledging Conference for UNRWA held on June 23, 2020, India’s then Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, had announced that India will contribute USD 10 million to UNRWA over the next two years.

Since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the retaliatory action by Israel, more than three-fourths of the Gaza population of approximately 2.3 million have been displaced, some a few times.

UNRWA has been struggling to provide basic services to hundreds of thousands of people living in shelters.

Before the war in Gaza, UNRWA was already facing an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestinian refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty.

The agency is mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.6 million Palestinian refugees registered with it across its five fields of operation.

Its mission is to help Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.

UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection, and microfinance among Palestinian refugees.

During the first-ever Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Palestine in February 2018, India increased its annual financial contribution fourfold to the UNRWA core budget, from USD 1.25 million to USD 5 million.

India had also made a strong appeal to other traditional donors of UNRWA to consider enhancing their contributions, as well as to non-donor member states to consider contributing to the agency in solidarity with the Palestinian refugees. PTI HM RD RD