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State Department officials told the Trump administration transition team there could be a humanitarian ‘catastrophe’ in Gaza when a new Israeli law barring contact with the UN refugee agency for Palestinians takes effect at the end of the month, three US officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is the primary aid agency operating in Gaza. US officials say there’s no serious backup plan for providing humanitarian supplies and services to Palestinians.
After more than a year of war, the UN and other aid organisations warn Gaza is close to uninhabitable. Tens of thousands of houses have been destroyed. Nearly two million Palestinians are displaced and dependent on aid for food, water and medical services.
The Israeli law will take effect a few days after President-elect Trump’s inauguration, when the new administration will be faced with mounting world crises.
Biden administration officials said they initiated the briefing about UNRWA because they wanted the new administration to be aware of the looming crisis.
Catch up quick: In late October, the Israeli parliament passed two bills that would significantly limit UNRWA’s ability to continue operating in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The first bill bars UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory, and is most relevant to UNRWA’s activity in East Jerusalem. But it also affects the aid agency’s operations in the West Bank that are run from Jerusalem.
The second bill bars any Israeli government official from having contact with UNRWA, and strips all UNRWA workers of their diplomatic privileges and immunity.
Israel has long opposed UNRWA – and since the war began in Gaza, has claimed some of the agency’s staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. UNRWA fired nine staff members following a UN investigation, but has repeatedly denied allegations that the agency has widespread links to Hamas.
During Trump’s first term, his administration gradually cut all US assistance to UNRWA. The Biden administration later resumed US aid to the agency and supported its budget with hundreds of millions of dollars. But Congress passed a law in March that bans the US from funding UNRWA until at least 2025.
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