U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield is pushing back on Israel’s efforts to stymie the United Nations Relief Works Agency from operating within its borders.
Her comments come days after the Israeli Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees approved two bills designed to bar the U.N. agency for Palestinians from operating “any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly,” in Israel, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“We are following with deep concern the Israeli legislative proposal that could alter UNRWA’s legal status, hindering its ability to communicate with Israeli officials, and removing privileges and immunities afforded to UN organizations and personnel around the globe,” Thomas-Greenfield said during a U.N. Security Council briefing Wednesday. “This legislative proposal reflects the significant distrust between Israel and UNRWA.”
Israel has alleged that there was widespread aid given by UNRWA employees to Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that instigated the current war. The U.N. has confirmed that a handful of employees participated in the attack or helped hold the hostages Hamas took from Israel and fired those individuals who were still alive.
The United States and several other countries passed their funding to UNRWA amid the allegations.
“Israel has alleged — and the UN, in some cases, has confirmed — that a small percentage of UNRWA employees have ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups. Israel has also conveyed concerns about Hamas misusing UNRWA facilities, and the United States shares these concerns,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “At the same time, we know that UN personnel, including from UNRWA, are vital to the humanitarian response in Gaza and face tremendous danger while performing their work.”
UNRWA fired nine staffers over their alleged involvement in the Oct. 7 attack, it announced in August. It was also reported last month that suspended UNRWA worker Abu el-Amin, who was killed in a recent Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, had also been serving as a Hamas commander in the region.
The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said he was unaware that el-Amin was a Hamas commander in Lebanon and noted that he was suspended from his UNRWA position in March. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said el-Amin had been on administrative leave without pay “as soon as UNRWA received information about his possible involvement with Hamas at a senior level” and had never been reinstated.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the possible effects of the bill if it were to become law as “a catastrophe in what is already an unmitigated disaster.” Guterres reached out to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his “profound concern.”
Two U.N. peacekeepers were also injured Thursday in what it said was fire from an Israeli tank targeting an observation tower at the U.N. Interim Force headquarters in the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura.
“This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall. The injuries are, fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital,” UNIFIL said.
UNIFIL is a U.N. peacekeeping mission that was established in 1978.
“Today, one year later, the near-daily exchanges of fire have escalated into a relentless military campaign whose humanitarian impact is nothing short of catastrophic,” U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro, UNIFIL head of mission and force commander, said in a statement. “With constant Israeli bombardment now part and parcel of daily life in Lebanon, and Hezbollah launching rocket and missile barrages at Israel, far too many people are paying an unimaginable price — with many killed, many more wounded, and hundreds of thousands displaced.”
UNIFIL has never implemented the details of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006. The resolution called for Israeli forces that invaded southern Lebanon to withdraw, which they did. It also called for Hezbollah to move north of the Litani River, which is about 18 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border, but that never happened.
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There has been a diplomatic push from the Lebanese government to get Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a short-term ceasefire deal that would allow for more intense diplomacy, but it’s unclear if it will be enough to get a deal finalized.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday his country was open to implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.