Israel will begin shutting down the United Nations Relief Works Agency’s water and electricity in facilities located in the country starting tomorrow, Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen (Likud) told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
The move follows legislation passed by the Knesset at the end of December mandating the cutoff of water and energy to all UNRWA institutions. It also comes after Israel began to demolish UNRWA’s Jerusalem headquarters on Tuesday.
Cohen said he sent formal requests to the electric and water companies, instructing them to carry out the shutdown.
“In principle, the law was passed about two weeks ago. Warning letters have already been sent to properties that we identified as belonging to UNRWA,” Cohen told the Post.
The minister said that the disconnection process will begin on Wednesday and must be completed across all facilities in the country within two weeks.
Both opposition and coalition lawmakers have expressed support for the legislation.
Philippe Lazzarini condemns Israel demolition of UNRWA headquarters
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the demolition of the agency’s headquarters in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Lazzarini called the action “an unprecedented attack,” adding that it was a “new level of deliberate defiance of international law.”
The shutdown of facilities has drawn sharp international criticism since the earlier passage of the legislation in 2024 to close down UNRWA activity in areas under Israel’s control.
The minister said that international condemnation of Israel’s legislation on UNRWA was a reflection of “global hypocrisy” and was rooted in antisemitism.
“Instead of condemning UNRWA, instead of drawing the obvious conclusion that anyone involved in this terror organization must be held accountable, some of those same countries are still holding talks with Iran, which has harmed thousands of civilians and brutally violated basic human rights,” he said.
“Anyone who says UNRWA [facilities] should remain is doing so out of antisemitism, because it is clear that UNRWA is part of the terror infrastructure,” Cohen added.
Israel and the IDF have presented evidence that UNRWA employees were involved in Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which Cohen cited as a main reason why its activity in Israel needed to cease.
“UNRWA was involved in employing Hamas terrorists who took an active part on October 7, including the kidnapping of Israelis, their murder, and other acts. We have many additional testimonies,” he told the Post.
Cohen added that the UN agency “operates in a systematic way to incite against Israel.”
The minister said the Jewish state is now working against UNRWA on the international stage and noted that other countries have also concluded the agency should not be allowed to continue operating.
“We are now working to locate all UNRWA assets, evacuate them where necessary, and in some cases, seize the properties. Where they continue operating, we will disconnect electricity and shut down the buildings,” he said.
“We will not allow UNRWA, which operates as a front for Hamas activity, to continue operating within the State of Israel.”
Cohen also addressed UNRWA’s mission statement, which calls to “provide assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.”
He said the UN agency had “absolutely not made any contribution to the Palestinian issue in recent years.”
“On the contrary, [UNRWA] has only perpetuated the problem,” the minister continued.
“We are committed to ensuring that anyone who took part in the massacre on October 7 or assisted Hamas will not have the ability to operate within Israeli territory.”