As tensions in the Middle East show no signs of reprieve and in light of allegations the agency maintains deep ties with Hamas, Israel is aiming to ban the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency known as UNRWA from operating within in its borders.

The Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved two bills Sunday, one of which seeks to prevent UNRWA from operating "any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly," in Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The second bill states that the treaty between Israel and UNWRA, signed following the Six-Day War in 1967, would expire exactly one year after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks or as soon as the bill passes in the Knesset.

Israel has long held that some UNRWA employees gave vast amounts of aid and comfort to Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis and started the Israel-Hamas war. The U.N. has acknowledged that several employees either helped hold hostages after the attack or directly participated in the assault.

UNRWA fired nine employes over their alleged involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks in August.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield pushed back on Israel's intentions, saying the bill could hinder relief agencies' efforts elsewhere.

"We are following with deep concern the Israeli legislative proposal that could alter UNRWA's legal status, hindering its ability to communicate with Israeli officials, and removing privileges and immunities afforded to U.N. organizations and personnel around the globe," Thomas-Greenfield said during a U.N. Security Council briefing Wednesday. "This legislative proposal reflects the significant distrust between Israel and UNRWA."

Thomas-Greenfield noted that while the U.S. shares Israel's concerns over the group's ties to Hamas, "[a]t the same time, we know that U.N. personnel, including from UNRWA, are vital to the humanitarian response in Gaza and face tremendous danger while performing their work."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried the legislation, saying that if it were to become law, the effects would be "a catastrophe in what is already an unmitigated disaster."

The two bills will return to the Knesset when the legislative body begins its winter session on Oct. 28.

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Yuli Edlestein wrote in a statement following the bills' approval, "The problem of UNWRA did not begin on October 7, but it arose and was revealed in all of its satanism."

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