Israel severs ties with UN Palestinian aid agency

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00:00Israel has cut ties with UNRWA, the U.N. relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees,

00:06accusing it of providing cover for Hamas militants.

00:10The agency from this Thursday is banned from operating on Israeli soil.

00:15Contact between it and Israeli officials is forbidden, a spokesperson for the Israeli

00:19Foreign Ministry said on social media.

00:22Humanitarian aid doesn't equal UNRWA and UNRWA doesn't equal humanitarian aid.

00:28UNRWA equals an organization infested with Hamas terror activity.

00:32This is why beginning on January 30th, and in accordance with Israeli law, Israel will

00:37have no contact with UNRWA.

00:40The decision comes into effect following a ban passed in the Knesset last October and

00:45a decision by Israel's Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject a petition from a rights group contesting

00:50the move.

00:53The U.N. says its aid agency will continue to work in all Palestinian territories.

00:58An UNRWA official speaking before the ban came into effect warned of the devastating

01:03impact it could have.

01:06We're responsible for over half of deliveries inside the Gaza Strip, over half of the aid

01:11coming in.

01:12UNRWA has been described repeatedly, not by ourselves but by others, as the backbone of

01:20the international aid operation.

01:22Without UNRWA being able to operate, there's a very real risk of this humanitarian operation

01:27collapsing.

01:29After the Hamas-led attack on Israel on the 7th of October 2023, Israeli officials accused

01:35around a dozen of the agency's 13,000 staff in Gaza of taking part.

01:40A series of investigations found some neutrality-related issues, but stressed Israel had not provided

01:45evidence for its headline allegation.

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