The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) says in a statement that it “strongly denounced Israel’s illegal measures to undermine the status and role of the UNRWA through attempts to classify it as a ‘terrorist organization’ and strip it of immunities and privileges granted to its employees”.

These attempts “come amid an escalation of direct attacks on the agency’s facilities, which led to the killing of 192 of its employees”, it added.

The OIC considers Israel’s moves against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as “an extension of the serious Israeli violations of the UN Charter, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and relevant UN resolutions”.

Israel has accused UNRWA employees of playing a role in the Hamas attacks on October 7, but a recent report by a former top French diplomat found that Israel did not present sufficient evidence to support this claim.