According to report by Al Jazeera, Israel’s Knesset (parliament) has taken a controversial step by passing three bills in the first reading to close the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and designate it as a “terrorist organization”.
The first bill prohibits UNRWA from operating any mission, providing any service or conducting any activity on Israeli territory. It was passed by 58-9 votes. The second bill, approved by 63-9 votes, calls for stripping UNRWA personnel of their legal immunities and privileges offered to UN staff in Israel. The third bill, passed by 50-10 votes, designates the UN agency as a “terrorist organization” and requires Israel to cut ties with it.
The bills will now proceed to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for further deliberation and will require two more readings to become effective law.
Israel has been lobbying hard to have UNRWA closed, especially since it began its war on Gaza last October. The move has been condemned by Palestine, with Hussein Al-Sheikh, a senior ally of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, calling on the international community to resist attempts to dissolve the agency….Seë_Morë