ISLAMABAD: Acting Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, has “strongly condemned” Israel’s attempts to dismantle the operations of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), calling it a part of Israel’s “genocidal campaign” against the people of Palestine.

Israel’s parliament voted last month to ban the UNRWA from operating within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, crippling its ability to work in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Almost all of Gaza’s population of more than two million people are dependent on aid and services from the agency.

The move has faced widespread condemnation, with UNRWA warning the new law could see aid supply chains “fall apart” in the coming weeks. Israel has defended the move, repeating its allegation that a number of the agency’s staff were involved in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks last year, which killed 1,200 people.

“The adoption of the law by the Israeli parliament [is] a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, provisional measures set by the International Court of Justice, and the ICJ’s advisory opinion issued on July 19,” Jadoon said while speaking at a UN General Assembly meeting, calling on the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to hold Israel accountable for its actions and ensure unimpeded operations of UNRWA.

Jadoon demanded a stop to the “demonization and delegitimization” of UNRWA.

“By targeting the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, Israel not only obstructs vital humanitarian assistance but also threatens the collective effort to uphold the Palestinian people’s identity, rights and aspirations for justice and peace,” Jadoon added.

Founded in 1949, UNRWA works in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, initially caring for the 700,000 Palestinians who were forced from or fled their homes after the creation of the state of Israel. Over the decades, the agency has grown to become the biggest UN agency operating in Gaza.

Since the war in Gaza began in October last year, the agency says it has distributed food parcels to almost 1.9 million people and also offered nearly six million medical consultations across the enclave over the course of the conflict.

More than 200 UNRWA staff have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023 in the course of those duties, according to the agency.