United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Israel that he could drag the country before the International Court of Justice unless it reverses laws targeting the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency and returns seized property.
In a letter dated Jan. 8 to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Guterres warned that Israel should roll back measures said to run afoul of international legal standards, singling out restrictions imposed on the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee body, according to Reuters. Israel’s legislature approved legislation in October 2024 blocking the agency’s activities and limiting government engagement, then expanded those restrictions weeks later by authorizing the suspension of utilities to its sites.
Israeli authorities also seized United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) offices in East Jerusalem in December, a move the U.N. condemns while Israel maintains Jerusalem is its undivided capital. Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, rejected Guterres’ threat outright, saying the secretary-general chose intimidation over accountability.
“We are not fazed by the Secretary-General’s threats,” Danon said. “Instead of dealing with the undeniable involvement of UNRWA personnel in terrorism, the Secretary-General chooses to threaten Israel. This is not defending international law. This is defending an organization marred by terrorism.”
The United Nations created the UNRWA in December 1949 to deliver food, healthcare, and education to Palestinians uprooted by the 1948 Arab–Israeli war and the establishment of Israel. It began operations in 1950, serving roughly 750,000 displaced people and was designed as a temporary relief body, but its mandate has been renewed repeatedly as refugee needs persisted.
Israel has long criticized the agency, accusing it of bias and arguing that its ongoing operations have entrenched refugee status rather than resolved the underlying conflict. Tensions intensified after the 2023 Hamas attack when Israel barred UNRWA from operating on its territory while the U.N. and donors continued to defend the agency’s role in humanitarian assistance across Gaza and the West Bank.
There were also allegations that UNRWA employees took part in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, prompting multiple Western governments to freeze funding for the agency. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Austria all suspended aid in 2024 in response, citing serious concerns about the accusations, though several countries later moved to restore funding after reviewing the agency’s internal reforms.
A report from UN Watch in September 2025, a Geneva-based monitoring group supportive of Israel, claims the United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency retained Hamas operatives in senior posts in both Gaza and Lebanon despite being aware of their ties. While UNRWA presents itself as an impartial humanitarian body, the findings describe a pattern of keeping officials linked to the militant group in place. According to the report, those practices stand at odds with the agency’s stated commitment to neutrality.
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