Israel notifies UN it will not cooperate with UNRWA after new legislation

Israel’s foreign ministry said Monday the country formally notified the United Nations that it will not cooperate with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, once new Israeli legislation goes into effect early next year.

The move follows the Israeli parliament’s approval of legislation severing ties with the agency and banning it from operating in Israel.

“Despite the overwhelming evidence we submitted to the UN that substantiate Hamas' infiltration of UNRWA, the UN did nothing to rectify the situation,” Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said in a statement.

Israel has long been critical of UNRWA and has accused some of its staff of taking part in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Israel has provided little evidence to support its claims, and UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said last week that the agency has received no response to its repeated requests for Israel to provide such information.

“UNRWA is therefore in the invidious position of being unable to address allegations for which it has no evidence, while these allegations continue to be used to undermine the Agency,” Lazzarini said.

UNRWA has been the main distributor of aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip where Israel’s response to the Hamas attack has devastated many areas and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

Lazzarini said last week that dismantling the agency “will have a catastrophic impact on the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

Israel’s letter to the U.N. says the country “will continue to work with international partners, including other United Nations agencies, to ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not undermine Israel's security.”

Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly complained of delays in getting aid into Gaza, as well as unsafe conditions to distribute aid within Gaza to due to the fighting.

Syria raid

Israel said Sunday it launched a ground raid into Syria, seizing a Syrian it claimed was involved in Iranian networks supporting militants in the region.

The Israeli raid into Syria was its first during the current 13-month Mideast conflict. Syria did not immediately confirm the operation.

The Israeli army did not say where the raid occurred or when, but identified the man seized as Ali Soleiman al-Assi and said he had been living in the southern Syrian region of Saida. Israel said he had been under military surveillance for many months and was involved in Iranian initiatives targeting areas of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the border with Syria.

Body camera footage of the raid released by the army showed soldiers seizing a man in a white tank top inside a building. The man was brought to Israel for interrogation, the military said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border with Lebanon on Sunday, saying that Hezbollah militants in Lebanon must be pushed back beyond the Litani River, with or without a cease-fire deal in place, and that the Iran-backed group must be prevented from rearming. The river is about 30 kilometers north of the Israeli border.

"With or without an agreement, the key to returning our (evacuated) residents in the north safely to their homes is to keep back Hezbollah beyond the Litani, to strike its every attempt [to] rearm, and to respond forcefully against all action against us," Netanyahu said.

More than a year ago, Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages in their Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the current war. Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 101 hostages, including 35 the military says are dead.

Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 43,300 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated terror groups by the United States and other Western countries.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.