Emily Fang

Emily Fang, NPR News.

On Sunday, Israel's energy minister wrote on the social media site X that he'd moved to implement legislation passed in December to cut off utilities to UNRWA.

That's the agency that for decades has provided many social services in Palestinian communities in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Though in 2024, Israel banned it from Israeli territory.

Israel has accused UNRWA of being infiltrated by Hamas.

And while the agency has denied the allegations, it fired around two dozen of its employees as a result.

Last week, Israeli security forces raided an UNRWA health care center in East Jerusalem.

UNRWA still runs facilities in the occupied West Bank, but says that those schools and health care facilities will close down soon if their water and power are cut.

Emily Fang, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

Israel's communications ministry told NPR in a statement it has not allocated frequencies for 4G networks to the Palestinian Authority, which governs much of the West Bank, meaning they will not be able to upgrade their phone service networks.

The West Bank has been trying to get 4G for years, but negotiations to get approval from Israel have foundered ever since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.

In Gaza, another Palestinian territory, most people only have access to an even older and slower standard, 2G.

And when the winter weather turns windy and rainy, as it has been in Gaza this past week, people can lose signal entirely.

Emily Fang and PR News Tel Aviv.

An Israeli government source who asked to remain unnamed because they're not authorized to speak to media tells NPR, Israel is concerned Iran's regime is not so fragile yet that a U.S.

military attack could completely topple it.

In Iran, mass demonstrations are going into their third week.

And President Trump wrote on social media this week that, quote, help is on its way to Iran without specifying what that meant.

The same Israeli government source also told NPR Israeli cabinet members met on Tuesday to discuss Israel's potential response if the U.S.

attacked Iran.