World leaders denounced Israel’s ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), calling it “intolerable”, “illegal” and “nothing less than collective punishment”.

    Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 60 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon, making it the deadliest day for the region since the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

    Israel’s siege of northern Gaza entered its 25th day, with health officials saying that more than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed since the offensive began.

    In Gaza, at least 43,020 people have been killed and 101,110 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.

    In Lebanon, at least 2,710 people, including at least 127 children, have been killed and 12,592 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war in Gaza began.

    UNRWA ban is latest in Israel’s attacks on ‘the UN as a whole’: Legal expert

    UNRWA’s former General Counsel Lex Takkenberg told Al Jazeera that the move to ban the key UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees was the latest attack by Israel on the entire UN system and a strong response was now necessary.

    “We should also consider that these legislative attacks come on top of numerous other attacks on the UN as a whole,” Takkenberg said, noting that Israel had attacked the UN secretary-general and had also urged the closure of the UN General Assembly.

    “It’s really reaching a point that the principal organs of the United Nations – the Security Council and the General Assembly – have really no choice but to take strong action,” Takkenberg said.

    “Under international humanitarian law, if Israel prevents UNRWA from operating its schools, its health centres and its other critical services – Israel is under a legal obligation to provide those services itself,” he said.

    “This was one of the key reasons why, in 1967, Israel requested UNRWA to continue its operations in Gaza and West Bank, because Israel knew that otherwise, it would have to make provisions for this,” Takkenberg added.

    “So I think Israel has moved itself into a very difficult political and legal corner and it will be very critical to see how the leadership in the UN, including the General Assembly and the Security Council, will deal with this.”

    UK’s Keir Starmer ‘gravely concerned’ by Israel’s UNRWA ban

    The British prime minister said the Israeli legislation “risks making UNRWA‘s essential work for Palestinians impossible” and jeopardises the entire international humanitarian response in Gaza as well as the delivery of essential health and education services in the West Bank.

    “Under its international obligations, Israel must ensure sufficient aid reaches civilians in Gaza,” he said in a statement.

    “Only UNRWA can deliver humanitarian aid at the scale and pace needed. We pay tribute to the 222 UNRWA staff who have lost their lives in the conflict. UNRWA has a UN mandate to support Palestinian refugees. We urge Israeli lawmakers to ensure that UNRWA can continue to deliver its essential work.”