UN Security Council warns Israel against banning UNRWA
The UN Security Council, including the United States, warned Israel on Wednesday October 9 not to pass a law that would ban the agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, the day after United Nations chief Antonio Guterres , issued the same warning.
Relations between the United Nations and Israel are historically difficult and have been atrocious for a year, when Secretary-General Guterres declared “persona non grata” by the Hebrew State.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has accused the UN agency for Palestinian refugees of using “terrorists”.
During a Security Council meeting dedicated to the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in an unusual move, warned that she was following “With great concern the proposed Israeli law that could modify the legal status of UNRWA”.
He pointed out the risk of undermining the ” ability [de l’agence] communicate with Israeli officials and eliminate diplomatic privileges and immunities enjoyed by UN organizations and employees around the world.”.
The American diplomat reacted to a draft of two bills approved on Sunday by the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, which seek to end the activity and status of UNRWA in the Palestinian territories.
Algeria, a non-permanent member of the Council that convened this meeting, recalled that “For years, the Israeli authorities have clearly expressed their will and desire to dismantle UNRWA”.
This agency (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) was created by the General Assembly in 1949, shortly after the birth of the State of Israel.
UNRWA operates health centers and schools in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, among others, and is considered “the spine” international humanitarian aid to Gaza. She “It is the symbol of Palestinian refugees and their inviolable rights.”thundered the Algerian ambassador Amar Bendjama.
The warning to Israel was unanimous among the fifteen permanent and non-permanent members of the Council.
On Tuesday, Guterres announced to the press that he had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in writing about the ” disaster “ humanitarian situation that would cause a law that bans UNRWA, ” essential “ AND “irreplaceable”.
