The Israeli Knesset passed legislation on December 29 to immediately cut off water and electricity supplies to UNRWA offices and facilities — a vote of 59 to 7 in a 120-seat parliament. The bill, which takes effect immediately, has been condemned by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini as “outrageous” and “a direct affront” to the agency’s UN mandate.

“It is a direct affront to the mandate granted to the Agency by the UN General Assembly and contrary to findings of the International Court of Justice, which oblige Israel to fulfil its responsibilities as a UN Member State to UNRWA and the broader UN system,” Lazzarini said in a statement.

The bill was championed by Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen, who during the Knesset session claimed UNRWA serves as “an operational arm of Hamas” and declared that an organization he accused of fostering violence “has no right to continue to exist.” He also attacked Arab members of the Knesset who opposed the bill, calling them a “fifth column.”

UNRWA currently serves as the primary provider of food, medical care, education, and emergency assistance for Gaza’s displaced population — a role that has expanded dramatically over two years of war. Israel’s military operations have destroyed or damaged the vast majority of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, making the UN agency the last functioning distribution system for more than two million people.

The legislation is the latest in a coordinated sequence: the October 2024 law banning UNRWA from operating in Israeli-controlled territory, the staff list registration requirement that threatened dozens of INGOs with deregistration, and now the direct utility cutoff. Together, they constitute a systematic attempt to collapse the humanitarian infrastructure of Gaza from the outside — through legislation rather than bombs, but toward the same end.

The ICJ has already ruled that Israel bears obligations to UNRWA as a UN member state. The Knesset voted to cut off the agency’s water and electricity anyway.