Unrwa blamed Israel for being banned from operating in the country

Unrwa's Jerusalem-based spokesman, Jeffrey Fowler, said Tuesday that the agency is irreplaceable for helping the people of war-torn Gaza make ends meet.

Israel voted overwhelmingly Monday to ban UNRWA from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem, Agence France-Presse reported. Fowler said the agency was the backbone of humanitarian work in the Palestinian territories, particularly the Gaza Strip.

"There is no substitute for UNRWA, UNRWA is indispensable. That will be true no matter what legislation is passed on Monday." Fowler told AFP that the Israeli bill was outrageous.

Fowler said UNRWA wanted the decision reversed and was not considering personnel changes. "If this decision is implemented within three months, the international community and the Israeli authorities should develop a Plan B."

"The entire UN system and other international players rely on UNRWA's logistical network and the necessary measures staff take in their efforts to keep the people of Gaza alive. We are the backbone.

"So the question is, who would do these things?"

The Israeli bill would also prohibit UNRWA from communicating and coordinating with Israeli authorities, thereby preventing its operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

"It's a very, very serious problem in terms of coordination," Fowler said.

Like other United Nations agencies and international organizations, UNRWA relies on communication with the Israeli Army or the Coordination of Activities in the Territory of the Government of Israel to facilitate the movement of people and the entry of goods.

"It's even more important in war. Our ability to operate, our ability to do our work in relative safety, could be severely hampered by the inability to communicate effectively anymore."

Looking more broadly, Fowler warned that international cooperation would be affected more broadly.

"This is a blow to multilateralism, and more than one government in the world wants to abolish a United Nations organization that it finds inconvenient."