The United States strongly criticized an Israeli bill yesterday that describes the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a "terrorist organization".

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told the press that "UNRWA is not a terrorist organization and we urge the Israeli government and the Knesset to suspend the passage of this legislation," according to the French press agency.

Miller considered that "the Israeli government's attacks on UNRWA are completely unnecessary" as they "do not advance the case for delivering humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza," stressing that Washington continues to support the agency's work.

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, approved the bill in its first reading on Monday, which classifies the UN agency as a "terrorist organization" and proposes severing all relations with it, and the text will undergo further study.

UNRWA employs more than 30,000 staff serving 5.9 million Palestinians in the region.

The United States suspended its financial contribution to the agency after unfounded allegations emerged regarding the possible involvement of some UNRWA staff in the "Al-Aqsa Flood" attack on October 7.

Since then, U.S. law prohibits Washington from releasing funds to the agency, while several countries, including the UK, Germany, the European Union, Sweden, Japan, and France, have resumed their contributions to the agency.