UNRWA Ban Is 70 Years Overdue

"On October 28, 2024, Israel’s Knesset banned the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from operating in Israel and banned Israeli officials from contact with UNRWA employees. Israel’s move comes after UNRWA employees participated in the October 7, 2023, massacre, facilitated Hamas terrorism and, in many cases, moonlit as Hamas members. On September 30, 2024, an Israeli air strike killed Fatah Sharif, the top Hamas commander in Lebanon; he was also a UNRWA employee.

The interplay between Hamas and UNRWA was long and deep. Fifteen years ago, James Lindsay, UNRWA general counsel, acknowledged that UNRWA did not ban Hamas members from its ranks nor even ask about affiliation in employment interviews. Both former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his successor António Guterres were aware of the problem they just chose not to reform..."