Guterres condemns Israeli decision to ban electricity and water supply to UNRWA facilities

MADRID, January 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday condemned the Israeli Parliament’s approval of a law that bans the provision of electricity and water to facilities of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA).

“The Secretary-General condemns the approval by the Knesset on December 29, 2025, of amendments to the UNRWA Cessation of Operations Act that seek to further hinder UNRWA’s ability to operate and carry out its activities in accordance with its mandate,” Guterres spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in an official statement.

These legal changes “contradict the status and legal framework applicable to UNRWA” and must therefore “be repealed immediately,” according to Guterres.

The UN recalls that UNRWA “is an integral part of the United Nations”, which is why the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations applies, both to the organization itself and to its properties, assets, positions and other personnel. “The properties used by UNRWA are inviolable,” he underlined before recalling that this same thing was underlined by the judgment of October 22 of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

Guterres recalled that UNRWA carries out “indispensable” work for the Palestinian people both in Gaza and in other territories. Additionally, “UNRWA activity in Gaza contributes to the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2803” which approved the US ceasefire plan for Gaza.

This rule allows the Israeli government to seize “without the need to initiate legal or administrative procedures” properties rented in Jerusalem from the UN humanitarian agency, which used them as offices.

The approval of this proposal represents another step in the Israeli campaign against UNRWA and comes on top of events such as the raid carried out last December by Israeli authorities on the agency’s compound in East Jerusalem, where they placed an Israeli flag in place of the UN, or the closure, in May of this year, of the entity’s schools in the same area.