Israel said on Monday it was terminating an agreement facilitating the work of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza, in what appeared to be a step to implement legislation passed last month that would sever ties with the agency and prevent Israeli attacks against Palestinians. He said it was. from operating in Israel.

Israel says the agency, known as UNRWA, has been infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA denies the allegations and says it has taken measures to ensure its impartiality.

Aid groups have warned that the law could seriously hinder UNRWA’s work and create further obstacles to resolving the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel has said other UN agencies and aid groups could fill the gap, but those organizations say UNRWA is necessary.

The agency provides education, health and other basic services to Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s founding and their descendants, who now number about 6 million. Refugee families make up the majority of Gaza’s population.

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Israel announced on Sunday that its soldiers launched a ground attack on Syria to capture a Syrian whom it accused of working with Iran. Israel announced that its soldiers were operating on Syrian territory for the first time in the current war.

Despite increasing pressure from the United States and the international community to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel’s intensified attacks on the Hezbollah militant group are spreading beyond the Lebanese border areas. Israel is also waging an endless war against Hamas in northern Gaza.

At least 2,900 people have been killed and 13,150 injured in Lebanon since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah broke out last year, according to a Health Ministry report. Health officials say a quarter of those who died were women and children.

More than 43,000 people have died in Israel’s more than year-long war against Hamas in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children. The war began when Palestinian militants raided Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 250.

The World Health Organization says hospitals in northern Gaza are under enormous pressure and barely functional, with dozens of injured patients desperately seeking help and only one or two doctors treating the patients.

The Israeli military body responsible for humanitarian aid to Gaza said it evacuated 72 patients from hospitals in northern Gaza to other medical facilities on Monday and brought units of fuel, food, water and blood, as well as medical supplies.

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The announcement from the organization known as COGAT came after the United States gave Israel a “failing” rating in a letter written by the Secretary of State to senior Israeli officials last month in terms of meeting conditions for an improvement in aid deliveries to Gaza. State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said there are still roughly nine days left until the deadline, but the limited progress so far is insufficient.

“As of today, the situation has not reversed significantly,” Miller told reporters. “We have seen an increase in some metrics. However, when you look at the recommendations made in the letter, we see that they have not been met.

Miller also said the United States was working on a resolution by the Israeli government to sever ties with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

Miller also said the United States is “deeply concerned” by the recent escalation of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.