UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned Israel that he could take the country to the International Court of Justice if it does not roll back newly enacted laws aimed at UNRWA, the United Nations agency for “Palestinian refugees,” and restore property taken from the organization, according to a Reuters report.
The warning appeared in a letter dated January 8 and addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, which was publicly released on Tuesday.
In the letter, Guterres said the United Nations cannot overlook “actions taken by Israel, which are in direct contravention of the obligations of Israel under international law. They must be reversed without delay.”
Israel’s Knesset approved legislation in October 2024 that barred UNRWA from operating within the country and forbade Israeli officials from engaging with the agency. The law was expanded last month to cut off electricity and water services to UNRWA sites, and Israeli authorities also took control of the agency’s offices in eastern Jerusalem.
UNRWA has faced longstanding criticism for its ties to the Hamas terrorist organization, criticism that intensified after Israel presented evidence in 2024 alleging that UNRWA employees took part in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.
In response to those claims, the United Nations established an independent review panel led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to examine Israel’s allegations.
The panel reported that it identified “neutrality-related issues” within UNRWA but also said Israel had not yet substantiated claims that a large number of the agency’s employees belonged to terrorist organizations.
Emily Damari, a former Hamas hostage who was released after 470 days in captivity, later stated that she had been held inside an UNRWA facility.
In April 2025, USAID disclosed that the United Nations had interfered with a U.S. government investigation into connections between UNRWA staff in Gaza and the Hamas terrorist organization.
Despite the mounting evidence cited by Israel regarding UNRWA’s links to Hamas, the International Court of Justice recently ruled that Israel must enable the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through UN bodies, including UNRWA. Israel and the United States both criticized that decision.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, forcefully dismissed Guterres’ threat. “The UN Secretary-General is trying to intimidate Israel,” he said. “In a letter he sent to Prime Minister Netanyahu, he threatened to file a complaint with the International Court of Justice in The Hague against the State of Israel.”
Danon added: “Instead of addressing the serious issue of UNRWA employees being involved in terrorism, he is trying to whitewash crimes committed by UNRWA, which acts as a subsidiary of Hamas. We are done with UNRWA!”
how scary
Where is the threat to Iran or Russia
UNWRA is a deeply problematic organization which operates in contravention with nearly all standard procedures for international aid organizations.
Despite what Huterres is insinuating, UNWRA does not have a legitimate mandate that can be imposed on a sovereign country. Their mandate is from the UN General assembly which is treated more as a suggestion than an enforceable rule.
Their choice to cooperate with a belligerent instead of maintaining neutrality is violative of the the UN charter for humanitarian aid NGOs. The choice that must be made in such circumstances is to cease aid operations instead of directly cooperating with a belligerent (in this case Hamas). All UN organizations are required to maintain neutrality.
In every other major conflict, when aid is systematically diverted, staff are coerced or infiltrated, or armed groups condition access on collaboration, the appropriate response has been to withdraw aid entirely. This is tragic, but is generally viewed as necessary.
We’ve seen this happen in portions of Syria, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Somalia where terroir groups controlling a region tried to co-opt international aid.
My final point is that since GHF and WFP are currently providing aid into Gaza, even the suggestion based mandate for UNWRA’s existence is null.