Israel to cease all contact with UNRWA
Israel’s envoy to the United Nations Danny Danon has said that Israel will cut off all communications and collaboration with the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA and any other bodies acting on its behalf.
“Israel will terminate all collaboration communication and contact with UNRWA or anyone acting on its behalf,” the AFP news agency reported Danon as saying before a UN Security Council meeting.
UNRWA’s Lazzarini says ‘relentless assault’ on agency is harming Palestinians
Philippe Lazzarini, the leader of the UN’s Palestinian relief agency, has slammed Israel after the country moved to cut all contact with his organisation.
“The relentless assault on UNRWA is harming the lives and future of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory,” he told a UN Security Council meeting.
“It is eroding their trust in the international community, jeopardising any prospect for peace and security,” the UNRWA chief added.
US envoy to the UN says UNRWA ‘exaggerating’ effects of Israeli ban
The US envoy to the United Nations has said the US supports Israel’s “sovereign decision” to shutter UNRWA in Jerusalem and that the agency is “exaggerating” the impact of an Israeli ban that experts and UN officials have said would have catastrophic impacts on humanitarian support for Palestinians.
“The United States supports this decision,” said envoy Dorothy Shae.
UNFPA Palestine expresses support for UNRWA
The Palestine branch of the UN Population Fund has expressed solidarity with UNRWA, stating that the agency is a “lifeline” for Palestinians.
“UNRWA is a lifeline for millions of Palestinian refugees, providing essential services,” the agency said in a social media post.
“UNFPA stands in solidarity with UNRWA and calls for the protection of its critical mission, in accordance with international law.”
UN chief urges Israel to rescind UNRWA ban
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has demanded that Israel suspend its order expelling UNRWA from Jerusalem.
“I regret this decision and request that the Government of Israel retract it,” Guterres wrote in a letter dated Monday, underscoring the agency’s “irreplaceable” role in humanitarian efforts and rejecting Israel’s claims of sovereignty over East Jerusalem, which is considered occupied under international law.
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