Guterres calls for scaled up aid into Gaza
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief at scale”, including through the Rafah crossing, at the opening session of the UN’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
“The continued suspension of international NGOs providing vital aid defies humanitarian principles, undermines fragile progress, and worsens the suffering of civilians,” Guterres said.
“Shelter, food, education materials, and other basic needs must reach those in need.”
- Gaza must remain an integral part of a Palestinian state.
- Any sustainable solution must be consistent with international law, and the occupied Palestinian territories must be run by “a unified, legitimate, and internationally recognised Palestinian Government”.
- The E1 settlement expansion project – which includes 3,401 additional housing units – is “profoundly alarming” and would deliver a “severe blow” to the two-state solution. Such actions are unlawful as deemed by the International Court of Justice.
- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is part of the UN and, as such, is “inviolable and immune from any form of interference”. States must continue to politically and financially support its mandate.
- The Israeli occupation “must end” and “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people must be realised”.
- The only viable route is a two-state solution. The international community must act in accordance “with clarity, unity and determination”.
Israel-Palestine head of Human Right Watch quits over ‘blocked’ report
The Israel-Palestine director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) has resigned in protest, saying the organisation’s new chief blocked a report accusing Israel of committing “crimes against humanity” in its denial of Palestinian refugees’ right of return.
Omar Shakir, who has worked for the rights group for more than 10 years, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the report “sought to connect the erasure of camps in Gaza with the emptying of camps in the West Bank, with the full assault led by the Israeli government against UNRWA, the [United Nations] aid agency for Palestinian refugees and underscoring how in the midst of this Nakba 2.0 that we’re seeing unfold beyond us, it’s critical that we learn the lessons from Nakba 1.0”.
