Gantz to back Knesset bills against UNRWA, as Netanyahu may block them

National Unity Party chairman Benny Gantz called for the passage of two Knesset bills that would shut down the UN Relief and Works Agency’s operation in Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem just as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be forced to block them.

“UNRWA chose to make itself an inseparable component of Hamas’s mechanism – and now is the time to detach ourselves entirely from it,” Gantz said Tuesday.

“Instead of fulfilling its purpose and improving the lives of refugees, UNRWA does the opposite and perpetuates their victimization,” he said.

“Worse than that – some of its workers have become integral parts of the Hamas mechanism and even played an active role in the October 7 massacre,” he said.

Other international agencies could be brought in to provide humanitarian services, he said, as he attacked the main organization that provides relief to displaced Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, east Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

Any normative country would have shut down UNRWA at the start of the war, but given the nature of this government, “there is no choice but to bring the issue before the Knesset to decide and vote on the matter.”“This is what we will do,” he said.

UNRWA, which services 5.9 million people, operates through a mandate by the United Nations General Assembly and only the UNGA can rescind that mandate. Israel can not, therefore, impact UNRWA operations in those countries.

But it does have the power should it choose to do so, to shut down the UNRWA operations in Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem, where UNRWA services some 2.4 million people. Netanyahu has long called for UNRWA’s closure but has not shut down its operations, even in the aftermath of October 7.

Israel has charged that UNRWA members participated in the Hamas-led invasion of Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and helped kidnap some of the 251 hostages, all of whom were forcibly taken into Gaza.

The United States, while condemning any ties by UNRWA employees to October 7 as well as decrying any links between UNRWA staff and Hamas, has still backed the agency as the best option for humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, particularly in Gaza.

The US has warned it could restrict military aid to Israel unless steps are taken to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a letter it to sent to Israeli officials on October 13. In that same letter, it asked Israel not to shut down UNRWA.

There is speculation that Netanyahu could block the bills, which are private and not government legislation, to avert the restriction of military aid.

Despite Gantz’s post on X/Twitter, a spokesperson clarified that National Unity would only support the bills that were supported by the government and approved in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, meaning that his party would not attempt to pass the bills independently if Netanyahu backed down.

In any case, the Knesset agenda is set by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana from the Likud, who is unlikely to support a bill opposed by Netanyahu.

The two bills amalgamate a larger number of bills proposed by MKs from both the coalition and the opposition. 

The first bill, which combines proposals by MKs Boaz Bismuth (Likud) and Sharren Haskel (United Right), states that UNWRA will no longer “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly,” in Israel.

The second bill, which combines proposals by MKs Ron Katz (Yesh Atid), Dan Illouz (Likud), and Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu), states that the treaty between Israel and UNWRA, signed following the Six-Day War in 1967, will expire as soon as the bill passes its final voting in the Knesset plenum; that no Israeli government agencies or representatives may contact UNWRA or a representative of it; and that UNWRA workers will not enjoy immunity or special rights that other UN workers enjoy in Israel, such as immunity from indictment and some tax cuts.

The second bill also stipulates that the National Security Council must report to the committee every two months regarding the bill’s implementation.

Two bills set to reach Knesset floor next week 

According to two sources, the two bills are still scheduled to reach the Knesset floor next week for final voting. However, one of the sources said that it is unlikely that Netanyahu will enable them to pass if the cost is a US arms embargo.

UNRWA Secretary-General Philippe Lazzarini warned of the growing humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza. He called for a temporary truce to allow people to leave areas of northern Gaza as health officials said they were running out of supplies to treat patients hurt in a three-week-old Israeli offensive.

Lazzarini said the humanitarian situation had reached a dire point, with bodies abandoned by roadsides or buried under rubble.

“In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die,” he said on X/Twitter. “They feel deserted, hopeless, and alone.”

“I am calling for an immediate truce, even if for a few hours, to enable safe humanitarian passage for families who wish to leave the area & reach safer places,” he said.

United Nations Development Programme said quality of life indicators such as health and education had been knocked back 70 years.

In northern Gaza, residents said Israeli forces had besieged hospitals, schools, and other shelters housing displaced families and ordered them to leave and head south. They said forces detained dozens of men.

Footage obtained by Reuters showed dozens of residents fleeing their area, carrying some of their belongings.

Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said medical services had completely collapsed.

“There are no blood units or tubes to drain bleeding from the chest. Most of the medical supplies are not available,” he said.

“People around the hospital are being asked to evacuate, and those who evacuated were shot on the way... the situation is more than catastrophic.”

Reuters contributed to this report.