UN UNRWA agency says Israel ordered him to stop surgery this week in East Jerusalem Reuters
Geneva/Jerusalem (Reuters) – The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees announced on Sunday that Israel had ordered her to leave the premises and interrupt all his operations in occupied East Jerusalem by Thursday.
Israeli legislators in October have passed the Law by which UNRWA forbids access to the country and also forbids Israeli authorities contact with the Agency, although there are exceptions.
Most international communities, including the UN, East Jerusalem, together with the western coast and Gaza, consider the territory occupied by Israel. However, the Israeli government considers the entire Jerusalem part of the country.
UNRWA said the order of interruption of operations is contrary to the international obligations of Israel as a UN Member State.
“The premises of the United Nations are inviolable and enjoy the privileges and immunity towards the United Nations Charter,” and Israel was obliged to respect “UN privileges and immunity,” it was said.
UNRWA has a total workforce of about 30,000 people working with Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.
Asked if UNRWA employees would stay in East Jerusalem after January 30, the Director of Communications Juliette Touma said:
“We don’t know. Our international staff has visas until January 29 only on the west coast, including Eastern Jerusalem. If their visas are not extended, they will have to leave. ”
Touma said it was not clear whether UNRWA would also have to stop providing services in East Jerusalem immediately.
“If so, then more than 1,100 students will be withdrawn for education, and another 70,000 patients from primary health care,” she said.
Israeli legislators who drafted the UNRWA Laws Law cited what they described as the involvement of some agency employees in the attack on Southern Israel on October 7, 2023 and employees who were members of Hamas and other armed groups.
The UN investigation revealed that nine UNRWA employees may have been involved in the attack and released them.
The law has upset the UN and some Western allies of Israel who fear that they will further exacerbate the already terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza after 15 months of war.
The ban does not apply to surgery on the west coast and gauze. However, the limitations of the contact of Israeli authorities with the agency are likely to affect surgery there.
