TEL AVIV, 15 January. - (ANA) - Israel has cut ties with seven UN agencies and related international organisations on Tuesday over their criticism of its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, claiming alleged "anti-Israel bias" and bureaucratic inefficiency.

 

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar instructed officials "to immediately examine, in consultation with relevant government ministries, when necessary, the continued cooperation between Israel and other organisations".

 

Sa'ar said the foreign affairs ministry would "immediately sever all contact" with the UN Alliance of Civilisations, UN Energy, and the Global Forum on Migration and Development.

 

UN Women is also included, claiming the organisation had "deliberately ignored all cases of sexual violence committed against Israeli women on Oct. 7th, 2023."

 

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has been accused of making "dozens of virulent anti-Israel reports", while the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) has been accused of making "virulent anti-Israel reports annually, and serves as a basis for further anti-Israel resolutions".

 

The UN Alliance of Civilisations was described as "a platform for attacks against Israel", the ministry called the UN Energy Program a "wasteful organisation" and accused the Global Forum on Migration and Development of undermining "the ability of sovereign nations to enforce their own immigration laws".

 

The ministry also announced it had already cut ties with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict, noting the body's blacklist of the Israeli army in 2024.

 

Israel has always had a tense relationship with the United Nations, which classifies the state as the occupying power of the Palestinian territories.

 

The United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry report in September found that Israel had committed genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, which Israel rejected.

 

Israel's onslaught in Gaza caused the highest recorded death toll of aid workers, including at least 382 UN staff, in any single conflict or period, per UN and Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) data.

 

In February 2025, Israel banned the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), claiming, without evidence, that the organisation was "infiltrated by Hamas", affecting the thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who rely on the agency for life-saving aid.

 

This comes as the US also withdrew from several international bodies on 6 January, after reviewing which "organisations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States".   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/15 January 2026 - - -