The controversial bills received support by the majority of members of Knesset on Monday.

Qatar has denounced Israel’s decision to outlaw the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and affirmed its support for the body.

Speaking during the weekly foreign ministry briefing of Qatar’s foreign ministry, spokesman Majed Al-Ansari warned against the strong repercussions that will happen if UNRWA’s operations are banned in Israel.

“Stopping support and work of UNRWA will have disastrous results,” Al-Ansari said, before adding that Qatar strongly believes in the role of the agency.

On Monday, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed two bills to shut down UNRWA, meaning that the agency’s operations in the Occupied West Bank and in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah will no longer be legal.

Members of Knesset voted 92 to 10 in favour of a law prohibiting UNRWA activities in “Israeli territory”, and 87 to 9 in support of banning Israeli authorities from having any contact with UNRWA. The ban will take affect in 90 days.

When the ban comes into effect early next year, staff members based in UNRWA in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank will no long be able to receive entrance permits from the agency’s headquarters in Occupied East Jerusalem.

Commissioner-General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini said the Knesset vote was “unprecedented and sets a dangerous precedent”.

“This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimize its role towards providing human-development assistance and services to Palestine Refugees,” Lazzarini said in a post on X.

“These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell,” he went on to say. “It ⁠will deprive over 650,000 girls & boys there from education, putting at risk an entire generation of children.”

Earlier this month, the Israel Land Authority (ILA) announced its plans to seize the land housing the UN refugee agency’s East Jerusalem headquarters to build 1,440 illegal settlement units on the site.

UNRWA was established as a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly in 1949, one year after Israel’s establishment which was predicated on the mass forced displacement of Palestinians, known as the Nakba.

UNRWA has since been the main provider of aid for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the neighbouring countries of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. It is the only UN agency dedicated to a specific group of refugees in certain areas.

Israel has long been at war with the agency. Last year, it vied to officially label UNRWA as a “terrorist organisation”, accusing agency staff of having ties to Palestinian resistance group Hamas. It also allowed settlers to vandalise and set fire to the perimetre of the UNRWA headquarters.

Qatar routinely donates to the UN refugee agency. In September, the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) sent monetary aid of $4.5m donation UNRWA to 4,400 Palestinian workers and patients from Gaza stranded in the occupied West Bank. QFFD also provided $25m to UNRWA in July.

In August, Qatar Charity delivered urgent aid to 100,000 people in Gaza in partnership with UNRWA.