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Beirut, Lebanon – Israel’s much-criticised banning of the United
Nations Palestinian aid agency (UNRWA) is part of a broader attempt to
undermine the rights of Palestinian refugees and expel them from the
occupied territories, analysts have told Al Jazeera.

The ban on the agency takes effect in three months and will exacerbate
an already catastrophic situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including
in East Jerusalem.

“The latest legislation is part of a campaign [by Israel] to kill any
aid infrastructure,” said Tahani Mustafa, an expert on Israel and
Palestine for International Crisis Group, a non-profit dedicated to
conflict resolution.

“But it is also part of a broader objective to permanently remove
Palestinians from their land,” she told Al Jazeera.

As the largest aid provider to Palestinian refugees, UNRWA has played
an instrumental role in keeping people alive in Gaza, where civilians
face a risk of genocide, according to the International Court of
Justice.

Over the last year, Israel has uprooted almost the entire population
of 2.3 million people and killed some 43,000 in Gaza. The war started
after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, during which 1,139 people
were killed, and about 250 were taken captive.

Palestinians in Gaza have been living under an Israeli-imposed land,
sea and air blockade since 2007, leading rights groups to refer to the
enclave as an “open-air prison”.

Israel now appears to be trying to depopulate Gaza by terminating
UNRWA’s services, an irreplaceable lifeline for the population,
according to analysts.

“It seems very clear from the way Israel is carrying out this war…that
Israel is trying to make life so difficult in Gaza that people leave,”
said Khaled Elgindy, an expert on Israel and Palestine and a senior
fellow for the Middle East Institute.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/31/israel-outlaws-un-aid-agency-to-make-life-unbearable-for-palestinians