The lives of thousands of Palestinian families in Gaza are hanging by a thread as Israel’s ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) comes into force. For Iman Helles, a mother of three sheltering in a UNRWA-run school in Deir al-Balah, the ban means uncertainty and despair.

“If the agency is banned... we won’t eat or drink,” Helles shared. “Where will I go with my small children?” Her home in Gaza City’s Shejaiya district was destroyed during the war, and the school-turned-shelter is their only refuge. Like millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, Helles depends on UNRWA for basic needs, education, and livelihoods.

Israel’s parliament passed laws last October barring UNRWA from operating in Israel and cutting ties with the agency. The move, which took effect this week, threatens to halt UNRWA’s critical services. Israel has long accused the agency of ties to Hamas, though a UN investigation found only nine employees out of 13,000 “may have” been involved in the October 2023 attacks.

The ban is already unfolding. UNRWA was ordered to vacate its East Jerusalem offices by January 2025, and international staff have been relocated to Jordan. Israel insists other UN agencies like the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF can fill the gap, but UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned the transition would be “disastrous.”

For displaced families like Hoda Hussein’s, the ban feels like “a second starvation.” “We rely on God, then on them (UNRWA),” she said. With no alternatives, the ban leaves thousands vulnerable in a region already devastated by conflict and destruction.

As Israel moves to phase out UNRWA, the future of Palestinian refugees remains uncertain, with life-saving aid and services hanging in the balance.