Israel cuts ties with UN aid agency

Israel cut ties with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees yesterday following accusations it provided cover for Hamas, a move likely to hamper delivery of its vital services after 15 months of offensive in Gaza.

The agency, UNRWA, will be banned from operating on Israeli soil, and contact between it and Israeli officials will also be forbidden.

UNRWA has provided support for Palestinian refugees around the Middle East for over 70 years, but has long clashed with Israeli officials, who have repeatedly accused it of undermining the country’s security.

The hostility intensified in the wake of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, with accusations that UNRWA employees participated in the assault.

“Humanitarian aid doesn’t equal UNRWA, and UNRWA doesn’t equal humanitarian aid. UNRWA equals an organisation infested with Hamas terror activity,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein wrote on social media platform X ahead of the ban.

“This is why, beginning on January 30 and in accordance with Israeli law, Israel will have no contact with UNRWA.”

Meanwhile, Hamas freed three Israeli hostages and five foreigners in return for 110 Palestinian prisoners to be freed in the latest stage of a ceasefire deal.

AFP reporters later yesterday said two buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners left Ofer prison.

First to be freed was Israeli woman soldier Agam Berger, 20, handed over to International Committee of the Red Cross officials in Jabalia in the north of the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli military said another two Israelis and five foreigners were later handed over to the Red Cross and en route for Israel.

The Palestinian prisoners, who include 30 minors and some members of Palestinian groups convicted for their involvement in deadly attacks in Israel, were set to be taken to the West Bank or Gaza later in the day.

Before yesterday’s release of hostages, Hamas had released seven hostages, with 290 prisoners freed in exchange.