ISTANBUL

Japan has expressed “grave concern” over Israel’s move to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

“It is extremely important to sustainably ensure an enabling environment for humanitarian assistance activities by UNRWA and other international organizations, and Japan strongly urges the government of Israel to maintain such an environment in a sustainable manner,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

It also expressed “deep concern” about the further worsening of the humanitarian situation that “is already dire due to the protracted fighting in the Gaza Strip, as well as the further deterioration of humanitarian conditions in areas including the West Bank and Lebanon.”

The ministry said ensuring “neutrality” was crucial for the UN agency as it operates in a challenging environment.

The UNRWA plays an “indispensable role in providing humanitarian assistance as well as health care and education to millions of Palestine refugees not only in the Gaza Strip but throughout the Middle East region,” the ministry said.

Since 1953, Japan has been financially contributing to the UNRWA and working closely with the agency to assist Palestine refugees, it added.

The Israeli Knesset, or parliament, passed laws Monday banning the UNRWA from carrying out any activity or providing any service inside Israel, including the areas of occupied East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank.

The legislation will take effect in 90 days.

Agency has mandate to aid and protect Palestinian refugees

Israel has accused UNRWA employees of complicity in the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, alleging that the agency’s educational programs “promote terrorism and hatred.”

The UNRWA, headquartered in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, denies the accusations and asserts that it remains neutral, solely focusing on supporting refugees.

The agency was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1949 with a mandate to provide assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees.

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.

More than 43,060 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,200 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.