<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Government of Spain, together with the Governments of Slovenia, Ireland and Norway, yesterday condemned the approval by the Knesset or Israeli Parliament of the law that prohibits all activities of the United Nations Agency for Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) both in Israel and in the Palestinian territories.</strong></h4> In a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the four governments “condemn the approval by the Knesset of legislation that prevents UNRWA from operating in the occupied Palestinian territory”. Then, they recall that “UNRWA has a mandate from the United Nations General Assembly” and consider that <strong>its work is “essential and irreplaceable for millions of Palestinian refugees</strong> in the region, and in particular, in the current context of Gaza”. They also say that "the legislation approved by the Knesset <strong>sets a very serious precedent for the work of the United Nations</strong> and all organisations of the multilateral system." The text adds that "Spain, Slovenia, Ireland and Norway will continue to work with donor and host countries to ensure the viability of UNRWA's work and its humanitarian role." The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs,<strong> José Manuel Albares</strong>, in spreading the statement on his account on the social network X, insists that UNRWA "is vital for the survival of millions of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East." A total of 92 of the 120 deputies of the Israeli unicameral Parliament supported the initiative, while ten voted against. Opposition parties such as Yesh Atid, the National Unity Party and Yisrael Beiteinu also voted in favour of the proposal, reports the Israeli newspaper 'Haaretz'. For his part, the Commissioner General of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, reacted to the approval of the law with a warning that it represents a "dangerous precedent" and that it "only deepens the suffering of the Palestinians." The bill effectively prevents UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory and the Palestinian territories by revoking a 1967 text that served as the basis for its activities, <em>Europa Press</em> reports. A few weeks ago, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, also asked the Israeli Parliament to annul the procedure and reminded Israel of the unprecedented phenomenon that would be represented by the prohibition of the local activities of a UN agency by a member state. Israel, on the other hand, has argued for years that UNRWA is an inoperative agency and, since the outbreak of the Gaza war, an accomplice of the Palestinian Hamas militias in their attacks on the country. Malinovsky herself denounced, during the presentation of the bill, that the agency "should not even exist" and even accompanied her proposal with a request to declare UNRWA a terrorist organization, which was ultimately rejected. Last March, Israel accused "a significant number" of UNRWA workers of "being members of terrorist organizations," which led 16 countries to suspend or freeze funding, suddenly depriving this agency of 450 million dollars and putting into doubt the continuity of its operations. However, in mid-April, the external investigation led by the former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna ruled out that the Israeli authorities provided evidence to prove the alleged terrorist links attributed to several of the UNRWA employees.
