Israel announced on Friday to the United Nations that his humanitarian agency is known as the UNRWA key straw of salvation for two million Palestinians during 15 months of war In Gaza, he had six days to stop all operations in East Jerusalem.
The Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said in a letter to the UN Secretary General, Antóni Guterres, “UNRWA must end his operations in Jerusalem and evacuate all the premises where he operates in the city by January 30 at the latest. 2024. ”
The letter was the first official announcement of Israel to the UN that it plans to implement the law adopted by the Israeli Parliament in October, which is officially known as the United Nations agency to help Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, forbids action on the Israeli territory. The measure also banned Israeli officials to communicate with the UNRWA officials and employees.
This move followed after months of tension between the Israeli government and UN agencywhich provides food, shelter, health care, vocational training and education to the Palestinians on the West Coast and Gazi under Israeli occupation, especially after the Hamas on October 7, 2023. The agency also helps Palestinians living in neighboring countries such as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, where Palestinians have been displaced during the establishment of Israel for decades.
Israel accused UNRWA of being infiltrated by members of Hamas. But two UN investigations revealed that less than 10 employees of almost 13,000 were associated with an armed Palestinian group and were discharged.
Two hundred sixty-nine UNRWA staff members were killed in Gaza-the greatest loss of life among UN employees in any conflict, officials say.
G. Danon said in a letter that Israel would continue to cooperate with the UN and “any of his agencies in which they did not infiltrate terrorist organizations.”
Asked for comment, Farhan Haq, a UN spokesman, referred to the previous statements by Mr Guterres in which he fiercely defended UNRWA’s work as irreplaceable and important, especially in Gaza, where Israeli bombing with the aim of eradicating Hamas displaced most of the population and About 47,000 people killed, according to Gaza officials who do not make a difference between civilians and fighters.
The UNRWA spokeswoman also made requests to comment on Mr. Guterres’ office, since the letter was sent to him.
Earlier this week, at a UN Security Council meeting, Guterres said: “First, the United Nations entities – including the backbone of our humanitarian response, UNRWA – must be able to perform their functions smoothly.”
The UNRWA chief, Philippe Lazzarini, also asked the Council last week to intervene to stop Israel in the implementation of the law that forbids his agency. He said such actions “massively weaken the international humanitarian response” in Gaza and “immeasurably worse already catastrophic living conditions.”
Before the letter was sent, Mr. Lazzarini told reporters last Friday that his agency did not receive a clear directive from Israel on how the measures would be implemented. He also said that he expects UNRWA to continue his work, although with huge logistical challenges on the western coast and in Gazi, and that her work in Jerusalem will be endangered.
In the letter, Israel demanded that UNRWA evacuating two locations in the district of Maalot Dafna and Kfar Aqueb in East Jerusalem, which according to international law is considered part of the West Coast and under occupation. Israel considers the whole of Jerusalem part of Israel.
UNRWA was founded in 1949 to help Palestinians who fled or expelled from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The Agency has wide support among UN Member States, and they invited Israel not to prohibit the operation of the Agency. After Israel accused Hamas of infiltration in the agency, Biden’s administration suspended millions of annual UNRWA and Congress in March banned US financing of the organization for one year.
During his first presidential term, Donald J. Trump withdrew Financing by UNRWA 2018, and is expected to continue to limit funding.
Selected by Mr Trump for the US Ambassador at the UN, a representative of Elise Stefanik, criticized the humanitarian agency as an “anti-Semitic” at her hearing this week and said that she supports the “Bible Rights of Israel” over the West Coast.
This attitude is contrary to the UN attitude that the western coast is occupied by Palestinian territory.
said Mr. Lazzarini In the post on x On Friday, that the prevention of UNRWA’s operations could “sabotage” a temporary interruption of fire recently reached between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, “once again betraying the hopes of people who went through an unspeakable suffering.”
He said that in the first three days, UNRWA brought a million people in Gaza in the first three days and already distributed it to about 3000 people in northern Gazi, where the UN and humanitarian agencies warned that people were hungry on the verge of hunger.
“UNRWA’s work must be continued in Gaza + through the occupied Palestinian territory,” said Mr Lazzarini.
