JERUSALEM

Israel launched steps to stop the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from operating in the occupied East Jerusalem, according to Israeli media on Tuesday.

The moves by Israeli figures from right-wing parties are based on the accusations of the Israeli government against the agency which have not been proven so far.

According to the Times of Israel news website, Israeli Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf on Monday wrote a letter to the director of the Israel Land Authority to evict UNRWA from any so-called state land in Jerusalem.

He ordered to "immediately halt" any agreements between the agency and the land authority.

Goldknopf also accused the agency of acting "in the service of Hamas" and acts against Israel. “Together with the director general of the Israel Land Authority, I intend to put an end to this and remove them from Israel,” he said.

On Sunday, the Constitution and Judicial Committee in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, approved a new draft bill aiming at suspending the work of the agency in occupied East Jerusalem.

The draft law was passed to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, in preparation for a first reading vote in the Knesset.

Last week, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he plans to cancel tax exemptions for UNRWA.

The agency is yet to comment on the Israeli moves against it in East Jerusalem.

It supervises the Shuafat refugee camp, along with several schools and health clinics in occupied East Jerusalem.

Israel claims that 12 staff members of the UN agency were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

Several countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Canada, have suspended funding for the UNRWA following the Israeli accusations.

The UN agency said it is investigating these allegations.

Established in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, the UNRWA enjoys customs and tax exemptions on imported products for the agency’s operations. It is also exempted from VAT and taxes on fuel purchases for organizational purposes.

Since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, the Israeli offensive into Gaza has killed more than 28,000 people and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling this January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar