Ban on vital Unrwa aid could spell disaster

Bin bags were piling up at one end of the chaotic main thoroughfare in Shuafat refugee camp last Friday morning as shoppers walked by, stepping over a stream of wastewater trickling from a nearby drainpipe. Poor sanitation is just one of the UN-administered Palestinian camp's problems - but things will get much worse.

- Bethan McKernan and Julian Borger

Despite huge international pressure not to jeopardise the work of Unrwa, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, the Israeli parliament voted last week to ban the organisation from operating on its soil. It also declared it a terror group, in effect severing all cooperation and communication between the UN agency and the Jewish state.

At present it is unclear how the new laws, which are supposed to come into effect in under than 90 days, will affect aid in Gaza, where UN officials say humanitarian efforts for 2.3 million people are "completely dependent" on Unrwa staff, facilities and logistical capabilities. Another 900,000 Palestinians in the West Bank rely on the organisation for basic services, which the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority does not have the capacity to take over, leading to fears it could collapse altogether.

"I have studied Unrwa for many years; I can emphatically say there is no alternative," said Dr Maya Rosenfeld, a sociologist and anthropologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "Emergency providers can step in for a short time, but they cannot replace what Unrwa does long-term. It is too big to fail," she added.

The new bills could yet be vetoed by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, if he can be persuaded by western allies who support Unrwa's activities. The legislation will also be challenged in petitions made by human rights groups to Israel's supreme court.