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The UNRWA, which has been under Israeli attacks since the war began last year, provides essential aid to Palestinians.
The Israeli parliament has approved a controversial bill to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), considered a lifeline for Gaza, from operating on Israeli territory.
The legislation, which wouldn’t take effect immediately, risks collapsing the already fragile aid distribution process at a moment when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening and Israel is under increased pressure to allow aid supply.
The UNRWA is the main agency to run humanitarian agency in Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of Israeli war. Hundreds of UN workers have been killed in Israeli strikes, making it the deadliest conflict for the UN workers.
The vote passed 92-10 and followed a fiery debate between supporters of the law and its opponents, mostly members of Arab parliamentary parties.
A second bill severing diplomatic ties with UNRWA was also being voted on later Monday.
The UN agency has provided essential aid and assistance across Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades.
