NAIROBI, Kenya

The African Union Commission chairperson has called on both the UN General Assembly and Security Council to take “decisive action” over Israel’s move to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. 

In a statement, Moussa Faki Mahamat said that if the decision is implemented it “would prevent UN humanitarian assistance to Palestinian people under Israeli occupation and already under unprecedented and continued physical attack for the past year."

Mahamat emphasized that Israel, as a member of the UN, is bound by its international obligations, which mandate the presence and operation of UNRWA, a body established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to aid Palestinian refugees.

The chairperson also pointed to international humanitarian law that mandates the provision of relief for civilians in need, urging Israel to respect its legal commitments.

The Israeli army has continued a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip since the cross-border incursion by Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Despite objections from around the world, Israeli lawmakers passed on Monday the bill 92-10, banning UNRWA from working in Israel and occupied territories.

Israel has accused UNRWA employees of complicity in the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border incursion by Hamas. UNRWA, however, denies the accusations.

Since then, Israel has killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza and created famine-like conditions across the blockaded territory.

The law, to take effect within three months, would end contact between UNRWA and Israeli officials, preventing the agency from providing life-saving support to Palestinians across Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The agency was established by the General Assembly in December 1949 to carry out relief and works programs for Palestine refugees. It began its operations on May 1, 1950.