In the Shuafat refugee camp, a hardscrabble district in east Jerusalem surrounded by a hulking concrete wall, intense security checks make venturing out exasperating. In the absence of municipal services, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, is what provides decent free healthcare and education to Shuafat’s residents. Those services — as well as everything from garbage pickup to maintaining water systems — may begin disappearing after Thursday, when a pair of Israeli laws passed last October come into effect, banning UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli officials from having any contact with the agency. (AP video/Sam McNeil and Alon Bernstein)
Israel’s looming ban on UNRWA deeply worries Palestinians in Jerusalem refugee camp
In the Shuafat refugee camp, a hardscrabble district in east Jerusalem surrounded by a hulking concrete wall, intense security checks make venturing out exasperating. In the absence of municipal services, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, is what provides decent free healthcare and education to Shuafat’s residents. Those services — as well as everything from garbage pickup to maintaining water systems — may begin disappearing after Thursday, when a pair of Israeli laws passed last October come into effect, banning UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli officials from having any contact with the agency. (AP video/Sam McNeil and Alon Bernstein)