Middle East Tensions: Israel Cancels 1967 UNRWA Agreement; Protestors Call For Urgent Ceasefire Deal

As the war in Gaza rages on and spills over into Lebanon, Israel has announced it has cancelled the 1967 agreement with the United Nations which recognised the Palestinian refugee agency - UNRWA.

This decision comes after the Knesset passed a legislation to limit the operations of the UN agency on Israeli soil and in occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"UNRWA, the organisation whose employees took part in the October 7 massacre and many of whose workers are Hamas operatives, is part of the problem in Gaza, not part of the solution,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz in a statement.

“The UN was provided with countless pieces of evidence regarding Hamas operatives who work in UNRWA, and nothing was done,” he added.

Middle East Tensions | Latest Developments

• Israel envoy to the UN Danny Davon shared the foreign ministry's letter on social media platform X which notifies the UN of its decision to cut ties with UNRWA.

• In the post, the Israel envoy added that the UN "did nothing to rectify the situation despite the overwhelming evidence" Israel submitted regarding Hamas' links to the organisation.

• Meanwhile, in Israel and around the world, protestors once again called for an urgent ceasefire deal to bring a halt to the bombardment of Gaza and Lebanon and for the urgent release of the remaining 100 hostages being held captive by Hamas.

• On Saturday night, thousands of Israelis marched across the nation calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. The demonstrations came after an associate of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was arrested over the leak of classified document.

• As Israel continues its bombardment in Lebanon, over 500,000 people have arrived in Syria. UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) has reported that around 472,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria since September 23, following the escalation between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.