The Israeli Parliament approves a law that prohibits the supply of electricity and water to UNRWA properties

The Israeli Parliament gave the ‘green light’ this Monday in third reading to legislation that prohibits the supply of electricity or water to facilities owned by the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

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

The measure is an amendment to two bills approved already in October 2024 that prohibited UNRWA from operating both in Israeli territory and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, thus revoking a 1967 text that served as the basis for its activities.

The legislation approved this 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.”