What's In Blue

Posted Mon 27 Jan 2025
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Briefing on the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

Tomorrow morning (28 January), the Security Council is expected to hold an open briefing on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” (MEPQ). Algeria requested the meeting to discuss the situation of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini and the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Jan Egeland, are the expected briefers.

Tomorrow’s briefing will be the second time this month that Security Council members meet to discuss the imminent entry into force of two laws on UNRWA passed by the Israeli Knesset (parliament) on 28 October 2024. At Algeria’s request, Council members held closed consultations on the matter on 17 January, during which Lazzarini briefed. One piece of legislation prohibits Israeli officials from having contact with UNRWA or anyone acting on its behalf. The other, as cited in a 9 December 2024 letter by Secretary-General António Guterres, says that UNRWA “shall not operate any representative office, provide any services or carry out any activities, directly or indirectly, within the sovereign territory of the State of Israel”, a reference which Israel apparently interprets as including the territory of East Jerusalem, that Israel has occupied since 1967, where UNRWA’s West Bank field office is based. The laws are expected to enter into force on 30 January. (For background, see our 16 January What’s in Blue story and the brief on the MEPQ in our November 2024 Monthly Forecast.)

At tomorrow’s meeting, Lazzarini is likely to reiterate key messages expressed by senior UN officials regarding the legislation’s expected detrimental impact on UNRWA’s ability to carry out its mandate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). In a press briefing following the 17 January closed consultations, Lazzarini said that the laws’ “[f]ull implementation will be catastrophic”. Highlighting UNRWA’s vital role in the humanitarian response in Gaza as well as in the delivery of education and primary healthcare, Lazzarini said that dismantling UNRWA outside a political process that includes an “orderly conclusion” of the Agency’s mandate and the handover of its services to Palestinian institutions risks undermining the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas announced on 15 January. In this regard, Lazzarini might note tomorrow the large volume of aid delivered by UNRWA since the ceasefire entered into effect on 19 January. According to a 27 January update by Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric, UNRWA brought in food for one million people in Gaza during the first three days of the ceasefire.

Tomorrow, Council members may be interested in Lazzarini’s assessment of the expected impact of the steps taken by Israel to implement the two laws. Following the legislation’s enactment, Israel notified the UN on 3 November 2024 of the withdrawal of its request to UNRWA to continue its assistance to Palestine refugees contained in the 14 June 1967 “Exchange of letters constituting a provisional agreement concerning assistance to Palestine Refugees”. In a 24 January letter to the Secretary-General, Israel stated that “UNRWA is required to cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city, no later than 30 January 2025”.

Some Council members might be interested in getting a better understanding from Lazzarini of how the UN intends to respond to Israel’s 24 January notice to UNRWA to vacate its premises in East Jerusalem. In a 26 January statement citing the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN, UNRWA said that the order to vacate its premises is “in contradiction to international law obligations of UN member states including the State of Israel”. The statement also noted that the Israeli government “has stated publicly that the aim to vacate UNRWA premises in Sheikh Jarrah is to expand Israeli illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem”. Tomorrow, Lazzarini might reiterate these messages and restate the UN’s position as outlined in the Secretary-General’s 9 December 2024 letter that, should UNRWA be forced to cease its activities, it would fall on Israel to “ensure that the range of services and assistance which UNRWA has been providing are provided in accordance with its obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law”.

More generally, Lazzarini might reiterate the key requests he presented to Council members during the 17 January consultations. According to Lazzarini’s press briefing following the closed consultations, he urged Council members to increase their financial support to UNRWA, to prevent the implementation of the Knesset legislation, and to “insist on a political path forward and clearly delineate UNRWA’s role as a provider of essential services, especially education and healthcare”.

Tomorrow, most Council members are likely to reiterate their strong support for UNRWA and express concern at the expected effects of the legislation on UNRWA’s ability to fulfil its mandate in the OPT. These members may underscore UNRWA’s essential role in providing assistance to Palestinians and call on Israel not to implement these laws or to mitigate any fallout deriving from the laws’ implementation. Several members are likely to note that UNRWA’s mandate was established by the General Assembly and, as such, the General Assembly is the only body with the competence to decide on any change in UNRWA’s operations and mandate. Some might also recall that UNRWA’s mandate is to provide support to Palestine refugees until Palestinian institutions can take over the Agency’s state-like functions. In connection to this, these members might stress the need to reinvigorate a political process between Israelis and Palestinians leading to a two-state solution.

The US might express a critical stance toward UNRWA, although, at the time of writing, it is unclear how closely the US’ messages at tomorrow’s meeting will align with the positions on UNRWA expressed by officials of the new administration of US President Donald Trump, such as Elise Stefanik, the nominee for US Permanent Representative to the UN. During her 21 January confirmation hearing at the US Senate, Stefanik stressed her support for defunding UNRWA and expressed interest in working with other UN agencies and programmes, such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

During the 17 January closed consultations, Council members apparently considered issuing a Council product on UNRWA. It seems that, while most members supported this initiative, the US opposed it, and the proposal was subsequently abandoned.

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