The Biden administration is “deeply troubled” by the Israeli parliament’s vote to severely restrict the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Tuesday.

“It could close UNRWA operations in the West Bank, in Gaza, in East Jerusalem. It poses risks to millions of Palestinians who rely on UNRWA for essential services, including health care and primary and secondary education,” said Miller.

“Especially in Gaza, they are playing a role right now that, at least today, cannot be fulfilled by anyone else. They are a key partner in providing food, water and other humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza who would have no one else. get it from if UNRWA were to leave,” Miller said.

Miller said the US had “made clear its opposition to this bill” to Israeli authorities and said there could be “consequences under US law and policy for implementing this legislation”.

“We will be talking to the government of Israel in the coming days about how they plan to implement it. We’ll watch and see if there are legal challenges to the law and if there’s any impact of those legal challenges, and then we’ll make our decisions after looking at all those facts,” Miller said.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston