Israel's parliament on Monday approved a bill banning the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from working in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, despite objections from the United States.
Lawmakers passed the bill with 92 votes in favour and 10 against, after years of harsh Israeli criticism of UNRWA, which has only increased since the start of the war in Gaza following Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks last year.
The ban on the UN agency -- which has provided essential aid and assistance across Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades -- would be a blow to humanitarian work in Gaza if implemented, according to experts.
"It's outrageous that a member state of the United Nations is working to dismantle a UN agency which also happens to be the largest responder in the humanitarian operation in Gaza," she told AFP.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to intensify its attacks on Lebanon. Lebanon's health ministry said at least 60 people were killed on Monday in raids on several areas in Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa Valley.
The health ministry said the tolls covered several areas in the Baalbek region as its governor Bachir Khodr decried what he called the "most violent" raids on the area since the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted late last month.