The UN Security Council, including the United States, warned Israel on Wednesday against passing a law that would ban the agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, a day after the same warning issued by the United Nations head Antonio Guterres.
Relations between the UN and Israel have been historically difficult and execrable for a year with Secretary General Guterres declared “persona non grata” by the Jewish state.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has accused the UN agency for Palestinian refugees of employing “terrorists”.
American reaction
During a Security Council meeting devoted to the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave, American Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in a rare move, warned that she was following “with great concern the proposal to Israeli law which could modify the legal status of UNRWA”.
She pointed out the risk of undermining the “capacity (of the agency) to communicate with Israeli officials and of removing diplomatic privileges and immunities enjoyed by UN organizations and employees across the planet”.
The American diplomat was reacting to a draft of two bills approved Sunday by the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, which aim to put an end to the activity and status of UNRWA in the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel.
Meeting convened by Algeria
Algeria, a non-permanent member of the Council which convened this meeting, recalled that “for years, the Israeli authorities have clearly expressed their wish and their will to dismantle UNRWA”.
UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East – United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) was established by the General Assembly in 1949, shortly after the birth of the State of Israel.
UNRWA notably manages health centers and schools in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, and is considered “the backbone” of international humanitarian aid in Gaza.
She “is the symbol of Palestinian refugees and their inviolable rights,” thundered Algerian ambassador Amar Bendjama.
Unanimous warning
The warning to Israel was unanimous among the 15 permanent and non-permanent members of the Council.
On Tuesday, Mr. Guterres announced to the press that he had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in writing of the humanitarian “catastrophe” that a law banning UNRWA, “indispensable” and “irreplaceable,” would cause.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
