The UN agency for supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that Israel's ban on its operations would lead to the "collapse" of humanitarian work in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

"If this law is implemented, it would be likely to cause the collapse of the international humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip - an operation of which UNRWA is the backbone," Jonathan Fowler, a UNRWA spokesman, told AFP after Israel formally told the United Nations it was canceling its ties with the agency.