HAMILTON, Canada

UNICEF denounced Thursday a decision by Israel to ban activities of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the occupied Palestinian territories and warned about its "deadly" effect on Palestinian children.

"With the children of Gaza already facing one of the gravest humanitarian crises in recent history, if fully implemented, this decision will be deadly," according to a statement by the UN Children's Fund.

"UNRWA is the main UN agency providing essential services and protection to Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and is the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaz," it said.

Highlighting that "there is no alternative" to the agency, UNICEF stressed that "UNRWA is indispensable in delivering the urgent, life-saving assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need."

It stressed the agency’s extensive reach and noted that UNRWA operates with "over 18,000 employees in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem," and said that "no UN agency can take over this responsibility."

The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed a bill banning UNRWA from operating, which would eventually affect its work in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The legislation will take effect in 90 days.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called the ban “unprecedented and dangerous,” and in violation of the UN Charter.

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

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, founded by a 1949 UN General Assembly resolution, provides aid and protection to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza.

The Israeli army has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since the Hamas attack, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 43,160 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,500 injured, according to local health authorities.

The onslaught has displaced almost the territory’s entire population 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 brutal war on Gaza.