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🇮🇱 Israel /Crime & Justice

Israel's High Court to hear challenge to laws restricting UNRWA operations

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Palestinian residents and rights groups are challenging laws that have severely restricted the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Israel.
  • The laws, passed in 2024 and 2025, prohibit UNRWA from operating in Israeli-defined sovereign territory and bar Israeli authorities from contacting the agency.
  • Petitioners argue the laws violate Palestinians' rights to dignity, education, health, and property, and could create irreversible damage on the ground.

The High Court of Justice is set to hear a petition challenging Israeli laws that have drastically curtailed the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) over the past two years. The hearing, before Justices Ofer Grosskopf, Gila Canfy-Steinitz, and Yechiel Kasher, addresses a petition filed by 10 Palestinian residents, supported by the Adalah and Gisha legal centers.

At the core of the legal challenge are two laws enacted in October 2024 and an amendment from December 2025. The initial legislation forbids UNRWA from operating within what Israel considers its sovereign territory and prohibits Israeli authorities from engaging with the agency. The December amendment further empowered the state to disconnect essential services like water, electricity, and fuel from UNRWA facilities, and allowed for the seizure of sites. It also removed UNRWA's protections under Israeli law concerning UN privileges and immunities.

the laws do not merely regulate Israel’s relationship with a UN agency but have effectively shut down or disrupted services used by large sections of the Palestinian population.

— PetitionersArguing their case that the legislation has a significant impact on the Palestinian population.

Petitioners contend that these laws go beyond regulating Israel's relationship with a UN body. They argue the legislation has effectively shut down or disrupted vital services relied upon by a significant portion of the Palestinian population. The petitioners warn that the ongoing closure and demolition of UNRWA facilities could establish irreversible conditions on the ground, even if the court eventually sides with their arguments.

The impact of these laws has already been visible through several enforcement actions. In December 2025, Israeli police and Jerusalem municipal officials raided UNRWA's Sheikh Jarrah headquarters, seizing equipment and replacing the UN flag with an Israeli one, citing unpaid property taxes and site usage concerns. In January, the Israel Land Authority, with police support, demolished most structures at the same compound, an act the petitioners highlight as a clear instance of irreversible harm caused by the amendment. Water and electricity supplies have also been cut to UNRWA facilities.

the demolition as one of the clearest examples of the irreversible harm created by the amendment.

— PetitionersDescribing the demolition of UNRWA facilities in Sheikh Jarrah.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Jerusalem Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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