The passing of two bills in the Knesset on Monday night that, when implemented, will block the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from providing life-saving support across Israeli-occupied Gaza and the West Bank, is the latest chapter in a longer story of Israel’s divergence from the global community and international norms that govern the behaviour of states.
In addition to its confrontation with the UN’s principal relief agency for Palestinians as a people are Israel’s attacks on the UN peacekeeping presence in Lebanon, UNIFIL, whose international troops in Lebanon have come under Israeli fire, including the potential deployment of white phosphorus, as the invading Israeli military advance on what they say are Hezbollah forces around UN positions.
