SEVERAL countries told the United Nations Security Council yesterday that they deeply deplore the Israeli parliament’s decision to abolish the operations of the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, set to take effect today, Thursday.
In a joint statement, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Slovenia and Spain condemned Israel’s withdrawal from the 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA as well as any efforts to hinder the agency’s ability to function and fulfil its mandate from the UN General Assembly.
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, told the Security Council that the ban would ‘heighten instability and deepen despair in the occupied Palestinian territory at a critical moment’.
In October, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed two bills targeting the operations of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
The first bill prohibits UNRWA from conducting activities within Israel’s borders while the second makes it illegal for Israeli officials to have any contact with UNRWA. The legislation is set to take effect on Thursday.
UNRWA spokeswoman, Juliette Touma, said: ‘If the ban takes place and we are not able to operate in Gaza, the ceasefire, which also includes bringing in humanitarian supplies for the agency and people in need, might collapse.’
The first phase of the ceasefire, which began on January 19, includes provisions for a surge in aid into the enclave of up to 600 trucks per day.
Israel’s ban would make it impossible for the agency to obtain any entrance permits to operate in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – both of which are under Israeli control – in effect crippling the agency’s ability to carry out its mandate.
UNRWA was established by the General Assembly in 1949 to provide humanitarian assistance to 750,000 Palestinian refugees who were uprooted from their land during the creation of Israel in 1948, an event known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or ‘catastrophe’.
The organisation – employing 30,000 staff, primarily Palestinian refugees along with a small number of international employees – delivers emergency relief, education, healthcare and social services to at least 5.9 million Palestinians within Palestine and neighbouring countries.
For generations, UNRWA has been the primary provider of health and education services to millions of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in Gaza, the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
