Israel has given the UN a proposal to dismantle Unrwa, its relief agency in the Palestinian territories, and transfer its staff to a replacement agency to make large-scale food deliveries into Gaza, according to UN sources.

Unrwa was not involved in the talks as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been refusing to deal with it since last Monday, on the basis of claims, so far unproven, of affiliations of some of the agency’s staff with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

“If we allow this, it is the slippery slope to us being completely managed directly by the Israelis, and the UN directly being complicit in undermining Unrwa, which is not only the biggest aid provider but also the biggest bastion of anti-extremism in Gaza,” one UN official said. “We would be playing into so many political agendas if we allowed this to happen.”

Behind the scenes at the UN, the US has supported the Israeli effort to fold Unrwa’s functions into other agencies, but diplomats in New York said that effort had so far been resisted by other donors and Guterres, who until now has given his full support to Unrwa.