Israel has officially notified the United Nations that it was cancelling the agreement that regulated its relations with the main UN relief organization for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) since 1967, the country's foreign ministry said on Monday, Paralel.Az reports citing Bangkok Post.

Last month, the Israeli parliament passed legislation banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and stopping Israeli authorities from cooperating with the organization, which provides aid and education services to millions of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Israel has long been critical of UNRWA, set up in the wake of the 1948 war that broke out at the time of the creation of the state of Israel, accusing it of anti-Israel bias and saying it perpetuates the conflict by maintaining Palestinians in a permanent refugee status.

Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement that despite the overwhelming evidence "we submitted to the UN highlighting how Hamas infiltrated UNRWA, the UN did nothing to address this reality".The legislation does not directly outlaw UNRWA's operations in the West Bank and Gaza, both considered by international law to be outside the state of Israel but under Israeli occupation.