Israeli Parliament approves law banning the supply of electricity and water to UNRWA properties

MADRID, December 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Israeli Parliament gave the “green light” on Monday in third reading to legislation banning the supply of electricity or water to facilities belonging to the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The legislation, approved by 59 votes to seven against, requires electricity and water providers to disconnect services to UNRWA facilities and block their communications, as well as their banking or financial services to the organization, as reported by the “Times of Israel.”

This measure is an amendment to two bills already approved in October 2024 which prohibited UNRWA from operating in both Israeli territory and the occupied Palestinian territories, thus repealing a 1967 text which served as the basis for its activities.

The legislation approved Monday also allows the government led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize properties in Maalot Dafna and Kafr Aqab in Jerusalem that had been leased to UNRWA and used as offices, “without the need to initiate legal or administrative procedures.”