Spain, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway and Slovenia condemn Israel’s legal actions against URNWA

Eduardo González Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Slovenia and Spain have condemned, in a joint statement, Israel's latest legal measures against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). These actions, which include cutting off water, electricity, and communications at its facilities, “undermine the UN mandate, violate international law and run counter to the findings of the International Court of Justice, while risking grave humanitarian consequences for the Palestinian civilian population and refugees,” the statement reads. “We also call on Israel to ensure that established international NGOs continue to be permitted to operate in Gaza and that any deregistrations be halted. NGOs constitute a significant part of all humanitarian and especially health services in Gaza and the West Bank”, it said. According to the signatory countries, “the work of the UN, in particular UNRWA, together with other humanitarian organisations and NGOs, is essential to confront the catastrophic humanitarian situation and to deliver life-saving assistance and essential servicesto the civilian population in Gaza, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the wider region.” “We underline the obligation to ensure full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and to enable the continued functioning of UN humanitarian operations and their partners, in line with IHL and relevant international legal obligations. Respect for the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and for international humanitarian law is imperative,” the statement concludes. On January 1, Israeli authorities adopted new regulations that will force NGOs to suspend their activities before March 1 for failing to complete the registration process approved by Israel in March 2025. The registration regulations, which included the obligation to provide the names of all employees, were approved for “security reasons” in order to verify their possible links to “terrorist organizations.” In total, 37 NGOs from 16 countries (including Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, the United States, Switzerland, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada) will be affected by this regulation, including such well-known organizations as Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Action Against Hunger, Oxfam, and Caritas. Israel has the power to grant or deny visas to NGO workers operating in Palestine and to control their access to Gaza and the West Bank. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected “the Israeli government’s decision to apply registration regulations to humanitarian NGOs operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, revoking their licenses, with the aim of expelling them and preventing their work.” “With these measures, which have affected recognized Spanish and international NGOs, Israel is thus limiting the work of NGOs and humanitarian actors to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and meet the most basic needs of the Palestinian population,” the statement continued. “This decision comes on top of the recent Knesset approval of the law that mandates cutting off electricity and water supplies to UNRWA facilities in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in addition to stripping it of its immunities and privileges,” the statement noted.

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