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IBAHRI condemns ban of Gaza relief agency

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has condemned the passing of legislation in the Israeli parliament to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from operating in Israel.

The move has revoked UNRWA privileges and immunities, on the basis of its designation as a terror group.

Genocide

IBAHRI states that such a manoeuvre blatantly contravenes international law and the provisional measures that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take to prevent the commission of genocide, as well as international pressure to maintain UNRWA as the principal body distributing aid in Gaza.

Dismantling UNRWA will paralyse the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza and of essential services in the West Bank. The IBAHRI said that it was profoundly alarmed that Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation stood on the brink of an even deeper catastrophe.