AA / Jerusalem / Abdel Ra’ouf Arnaout
Israeli authorities have informed the United Nations of the cancellation of the agreement governing the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), which involves banning its activities in occupied Palestinian territories, with the entry into force of the decision within three months, according to a press release published Monday.
The ban on the UN service agency thus multiplies the suffering of approximately 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, subjected to a genocidal war led by the Israeli army, with absolute American support, since the 7 October 2023.
According to a press release from Israeli diplomacy, “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the United Nations (via correspondence) of the cancellation of the agreement between Israel and UNRWA.”
The agreement signed on June 14, 1967 constituted “the legal framework for relations between Israel and UNRWA”, recalled the same source.
The letter, sent on Sunday, referred to legislation approved by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) on October 28, 2024, banning UNRWA activities in the occupied Palestinian territories (Gaza and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem).
“As a result, the ministry informs the United Nations that Israel will prohibit the work of UNRWA and that the decision will come into force within three months,” added Israeli diplomacy.
“During and after this period (the three months), Israel will continue to work with its international partners, including other UN agencies, to ensure that humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza is facilitated in a manner that does not does not harm the security of Israel,” the letter to the UN claimed, expressing its belief that the “United Nations will be cooperative in this effort.”
The Israeli decision would have negative consequences for millions of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Israel claims that UNRWA employees contributed to the so-called “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack on October 7, 2023 and that the agency’s “education system supports terrorism and hatred”, which was later proven false.
That day, Hamas attacked 11 military bases and 22 settlements bordering the Gaza Strip, killing and capturing Israelis, in retaliation for the “daily crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people and their holy sites, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque”, according to the movement.
UNRWA has rejected the Israeli allegations and the United Nations has confirmed that the agency is neutral and focuses exclusively on supporting refugees, emphasizing that no other organization can carry out UNRWA’s tasks.
UNRWA was established by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949 and was mandated to provide assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of intervention, namely, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon , in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Over the years, the agency has faced Israeli restrictions in an attempt to dismantle it, and as part of the liquidation of the Palestinian cause, particularly at the refugee level, according to UN and Palestinian officials. .
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said a week ago that the Knesset’s ban decision “creates a dangerous precedent and is contrary to the United Nations Charter.”
Israel’s new restrictions on Palestinians come as the Israeli army continues a genocidal war in Gaza, leaving more than 145,000 Palestinian dead and injured, mostly children and women, and more than 10,000 missing. , in a context of massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and women, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
Israel has transformed the Gaza Strip into the world’s largest prison, besieging it for the 18th consecutive year, and the “genocidal” war has forced around two million of its citizens to flee in catastrophic conditions, with severe shortages and deliberate use of food, water and medicine.
Alongside the war of extermination against Gaza, the Israeli army has intensified its operations in the West Bank and settlers have expanded their attacks against Palestinians, their property and their livelihoods, resulting in the deaths of 768 Palestinians and around 6,300 injured. , in addition to 11,500 detainees, according to official Palestinian data.
For several decades, Israel has occupied Arab lands in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, and rejects the creation of an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 war borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
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