Overview
- In a Jan. 8 letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, António Guterres warned he could refer Israel to the International Court of Justice unless laws targeting UNRWA are repealed and seized property is returned.
- Israel’s parliament banned UNRWA from operating in October 2024 and expanded the law last month to cut electricity and water to the agency’s facilities.
- Israeli authorities seized UNRWA’s East Jerusalem offices in the Sheikh Jarrah compound last month, a move the UN says breaches Israel’s obligations.
- Guterres wrote that UNRWA is an integral part of the United Nations and that Israel must honor privileges and immunities under the 1946 convention.
- Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon on Tuesday rejected the warning, citing allegations against UNRWA staff, while the UN says implicated employees were dismissed and investigations continue.