Outcry as Israel bans main UN Palestinian aid agency

Israel faced a mounting international backlash on Tuesday after its parliament approved a bill banning the main UN aid agency for the devastated Gaza Strip.

Despite objections from the United States and warnings from the UN Security Council, Israeli lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the bill banning the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, from working in Israel and annexed east Jerusalem.

Israel strictly controls all humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza, and lawmakers also passed a measure prohibiting Israeli officials from working with UNRWA and its employees.

UNRWA has provided essential aid, schooling and healthcare across the Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades.

"There is a deep connection between the terrorist organisation (Hamas) and UNRWA, and Israel cannot put up with it," Yuli Edelstein, one of the lawmakers who sponsored the bill, said in parliament as he presented the proposal.

Palestinian militant group Hamas, locked in conflict with Israel in Gaza, called the bill an act of "Zionist aggression", while its ally Islamic Jihad described the ban as "an escalation in the genocide".

Even several of Israel's Western allies voiced disquiet at the ban, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying Britain was "gravely concerned".

Germany — which has been a staunch defender of Israel's security — warned it would "effectively make UNRWA's work in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem impossible... jeopardising vital humanitarian aid for millions of people".

UN chief Antonio Guterres said the Israeli law could have "devastating consequences" if implemented and "would likely prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work".

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned that the vote "sets a dangerous precedent".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media that Israel was "ready" to continue providing aid to Gaza "in a way that does not threaten Israel's security".

The ban comes as fighting rages in Gaza and Lebanon, where a second full-scale front opened last month.

Earlier Monday, Netanyahu's office said Mossad intelligence chief David Barnea had met US and Qatari mediators in Doha, where they agreed they should talk to Hamas about a deal to free Israelis seized in the October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian militants.

"In the coming days, discussions will continue between the mediators and Hamas to assess the feasibility of talks and to further efforts to promote a deal," Netanyahu's office said.

The statement came two days after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi proposed a two-day truce and limited hostage-prisoner exchange that he said could lead to a permanent ceasefire.

But Netanyahu later said he had not received the Egyptian proposal.

Asked about the possibility of a Gaza ceasefire, US President Joe Biden said: "We need a ceasefire. We should end this war. It should end, it should end, it should end."

During the October 7 attack, Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, including soldiers and civilians, of whom 97 are still in Gaza. The Israeli ministry says 34 of these are dead.