The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) condemns in the strongest possible terms Israel’s ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
This attack on UNRWA is not only a potential death sentence for millions of Palestinians under Israeli siege but yet another brazen act of genocide.
Israel is actively dismantling critical humanitarian support in a deliberate, systematic campaign to annihilate Palestinian life and make Gaza unlivable for its people.
UNRWA has long been the only lifeline for millions of Palestinian refugees, providing food, medical care, and shelter amidst an illegal blockade that has strangled Gaza’s resources for years.
By legislating to ban UNRWA, Israel is turning genocidal policy into national law, violating international law and stripping Palestinians of their fundamental right to life.
The prohibition also openly defies the International Court of Justice’s March 2024 directive ordering Israel to cooperate with the UN to deliver essential humanitarian aid, an order Israel has blatantly disregarded during the past 12 months in its mission to cut off Gaza from survival.
This ban is part of an ongoing Israeli campaign against UNRWA and the UN more broadly, which has included blocking the UN Secretary-General and denying access to UN special rapporteurs.
These actions reveal Israel’s contempt for the international community and its determination to eradicate Palestinians by targeting the very structures designed to protect and support them.
APAN demands that the Australian Government takes immediate, concrete action to end Israel’s systematic annihilation of Palestinian life, uphold international law, and protect the fundamental human rights of Palestinians.
Australia must cease offering impunity to Israel to commit genocide in Gaza, and must sever all diplomatic and economic relations with this rogue state, including via the implementation of immediate sanctions, a full two-way arms embargo, and by officially supporting Israel’s expulsion from the United Nations General Assembly.
Australia must end its complicity in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.
Comments attributed to APAN President Nasser Mashni:
“Israel’s ban on UNRWA is one more unspeakably callous act of genocide against Palestinians.
“By dismantling the only major lifeline that connects Palestinians to food, medicine, and hope, Israel is openly executing a policy designed to exterminate an entire population.
“Australia must move beyond its utterances of ‘grave concern’ – it must take immediate, concrete action and use all tools at its disposal to push back against Israel’s genocidal policy and support Palestinians’ survival and right to self-determination.
“Israel’s blatant attempt to dismantle this vital UN humanitarian agency is a clear violation of the UN Charter and should leave the international community – including Australia – appalled, prompting immediate action against Israel, including its expulsion from the United Nations.”