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The United Nations denounced on Tuesday recent Israeli legislation that authorizes the cutting off of water and electricity supplies to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), with the risk of depriving "millions of people" of these basic services.
The Israeli Parliament approved on Monday a bill backed by the government that prohibits providing water or electricity to properties belonging to UNRWA. Furthermore, the State will from now on be able to take possession of public Israeli land that has been used by UNRWA.
In 2024, Israel had already banned UNRWA from operating in its territory after accusing some of its employees of having participated in the October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which triggered the war in Gaza.
The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, criticized the new legislation on Tuesday, calling it "outrageous" and stating that "it is part of a systematic and ongoing campaign aimed at discrediting UNRWA and hindering the central role it plays" in providing assistance to Palestinian refugees.
Filippo Grandi, who leads the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) until the end of 2025 and is a former head of UNRWA, considered the Israeli legislation "very regrettable."
In an interview on Tuesday with AFP, he recalled that UNRWA, unlike other UN agencies, provides basic public services such as education and health to millions of Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.
[Publicidad]