Israeli lawmakers have passed two laws that could threaten the work of the main UN agency providing aid to people in Gaza by barring it from operating on Israeli soil.
The laws, which do not immediately take effect, signal a new low for a long-troubled relationship between Israel and the UN.
Israel's international allies said they were deeply worried about their potential impact on Palestinians as the Gaza war's humanitarian toll worsens.
Under the first law, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, would be banned from conducting "any activity" or providing any service inside Israel. The second law would sever Israel's diplomatic ties with the agency.
The laws risk collapsing the already fragile process for distributing aid in Gaza at a moment when Israel is under increased pressure from the US to ramp up aid.
The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “gravely concerned” that the laws were passed, adding that the legislation “risks making UNRWA‘s essential work for Palestinians impossible, jeopardising the entire international humanitarian response in Gaza and delivery of essential health and education services in the West Bank”.
He added: “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is simply unacceptable. We need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of the hostages and a significant increase in aid to Gaza.
“Under its international obligations, Israel must ensure sufficient aid reaches civilians in Gaza.
“Only UNRWA can deliver humanitarian aid at the scale and pace needed. We pay tribute to over 200 UNRWA staff who have lost their lives in the conflict. UNRWA has a UN mandate to support Palestinian refugees. We urge Israeli lawmakers to ensure that UNRWA can continue to deliver its essential work.”
Elsewhere, UNRWA's chief has labelled the laws as "a dangerous precedent" while the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the work of the agency "indispensable".
He said implementing the laws "could have devastating consequences for Palestinian refugees in the occupied Palestinian territories, which is unacceptable."
"There is no alternative to UNRWA," he said in a statement issued on Monday night.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, speaking to reporters in Washington before the votes, said the administration was "deeply concerned" by the legislation. "There's nobody that can replace them right now in the middle of the crisis," he said.
The head of the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday the agency was keen to step up its support to people in crisis following the Israeli decision to ban UNRWA but there was "no way" it can replace its work in Gaza.
"UNRWA is absolutely essential to the people of Gaza, and I don't want to leave anyone with the misimpression that IOM can play that role, because we cannot, but we can provide support to those people who are currently in crisis," IOM Director-General Amy Pope told reporters.
"That is a role that we are very, very keen to play, and one that we will be stepping up with the support of various stakeholders."
UNRWA provides education, health care and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region, including in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The changes could be a serious blow to Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes, and there are widespread shortages of food, water and medicine.
Israel has alleged that UNRWA staff participated in the Hamas attacks last year that sparked the war in Gaza.
It also has said hundreds of UNRWA staff have militant ties and that it has found Hamas military assets in or under the agency's facilities.
The agency previously fired nine employees after an investigation but denied it knowingly aids armed groups and said it acts quickly to purge any suspected militants from its ranks.
Some of Israel's allegations prompted major international donors to cut funding to the agency, although some of it has been restored.
Israel has at times during the war raided or attacked UNRWA schools or other facilities, saying militants were operating there. UNRWA says more than 200 of its employees have been killed during the war.
"The law that we passed now is not just another bill. It is a call for justice and a wake up call," said lawmaker Boaz Bismuth, who co-sponsored one of the bills. "UNRWA is not an aid agency for refugees. It is an aid agency for Hamas."
The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said the new laws were part of an "ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA."
"These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza," he said on the social platform X.
Together, the laws will effectively sever ties with the UN agency, strip it of legal immunities and restrict its ability to support Palestinians in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The legislation does not provide for alternative organisations to oversee its work.
