Israel frees nine Lebanese prisoners, PM seeks release of nine more

UNITED NATIONS: Israel will cease all contact with the UN’s Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and any other body acting on its behalf, its UN envoy said Tuesday, after repeatedly accusing the organization of undermining its security.
UNRWA’s offices and staff in Israel play a major role in the provision of health care and education to Palestinians, but Israeli officials have long clashed with the agency.
UNRWA claims to have brought in 60 percent of the food to have reached Gaza since the start of the war that followed the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
“The legislation forbids UNRWA from operating within the sovereign territory of the State of Israel, and forbids any contact between Israeli officials and UNWRA,” said the envoy, Danny Danon.
He was speaking ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Israel’s passage of legislation ending the organization’s legal footing in Israel within 48 hours.
“Israel will terminate all collaboration, communication and contact with UNRWA or anyone acting on its behalf,” he said.
Israel claims that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the deadly October 7, 2023 assault, and insists that other organizations can pick up the slack to provide essential services, aid and reconstruction — something the UN disputes.
A series of probes, including one led by France’s former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality related issues” at UNRWA — but stressed Israel had not provided evidence for its chief allegations.


The agency’s chief Philippe Lazzarini said UNRWA’s “capacity to directly provide primary health care for millions of Palestinians, and to resume education for hundreds of thousands of children, far exceeds that of any other entity.”
He called Israel’s actions against UNRWA a “relentless assault” that is “harming the lives and future of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory.”
“It is eroding their trust in the international community, jeopardizing any prospect for peace and security,” he said.
But the United States threw its weight behind the move of its closest Middle East ally, accusing Lazzarini of overstating the impact of the decision.
“The United States supports the implementation of this decision,” said Dorothy Shea, a United States representative to the UN.
“UNRWA exaggerating the effects of the laws and suggesting that they will force (out) the entire humanitarian response is irresponsible and dangerous,” she said.
“What is needed is a nuanced discussion about how we can ensure that there’s no interruption in the delivery of humanitarian aid and essential services. UNRWA is not and never has been the only option.”
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
During the attack, militants took into Gaza 251 hostages. Eighty-seven remain in the territory, including dozens Israel says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,317 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
A ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas is now in place, intended to bring an end to the more than 15 months of war.
The fighting provoked a deep humanitarian crisis, destroying hospitals and sparking outbreaks of infectious diseases while hundreds of thousands of Gazans faced starvation conditions and have depended on food aid.
“We are determined, however, to stay and deliver until it is no longer possible to do so,” said Lazzarini.