Just two days before Israeli operations on the UN Central Aid Agency for Palestinian Refugees, the UN Security Council raised the issue at a meeting on Tuesday, where the United States was the only protector of Israel.
Israeli laws target a 75 -year -old agency, which is the backbone of humanitarian aid to two million Palestinians in Gaza, just as there is a critical ceasefire. The agency also helps Palestinians in the Israeli -occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
On Tuesday, a senior UN official and every member of the Security Council called the United States a violation of Israel’s actions as a violation of its responsibilities under international law and the UN Charter. He warned that sanctions would have a devastating impact on providing aid and would endanger peace in the long run.
“This legislation has made fun of international law and imposes widespread obstacles,” said Philip Lizarini, chief of the UNRWA. “However, we are determined to stay and supply until it is possible.”
The Trump administration’s interim representative in the United Nations, Doroti Shi, called the agency’s claims exaggerated, and warned that aid would be “irresponsible and dangerous”. He said the United States supported the “sovereign decision of Israel” to close the aid agency’s offices on its territory.
The law, passed by the Israeli parliament in October, also prohibits the connection between Israeli officials and agency employees, known as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the east.
Israeli officials have accused the agency of infiltrating Hamas militants, the militant group that it fought in Gaza since October 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel. The couple had reached the ceasefire a while ago.
The UNRWA was formed in 1948 in the wake of the wars around Israel. Its mandate includes providing food, essential aid, health care, education, asylum and other services to the Palestinians around the Middle East, which were displaced by the conflict. Children
On Tuesday, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Denn, told diplomats that Israel’s decision to declare the group was not politically political, but rather it was rooted in national security. He said Israel would cooperate with other UN agencies.
In a letter on Friday, Mr Denon informed the United Nations with the intention of enforcing Israel’s law, saying he told the Council that the legislation targeting the UNRWA would be fully implemented on Thursday. He said the agency must evacuate the premises working in Jerusalem. “
In response to Israel’s letter, UN Secretary -General, Antonio Guterres, said in a letter on Monday, saying that under international law, Israel is obliged to facilitate agency’s work, Not a hindrance to it.
Mr Guterres said rescue workers have been ordered to be evacuated in East Jerusalem, which are owned by the United Nations, which are protected under international law.
At the same time, he said he took the Israeli allegations very seriously about the relations between UNRWA workers and Hamas and took a decisive step to deal with them.
In response to Israeli grievances, two UN investigations have begun, which has shown that less than 10 out of 13,000 agency staff are affiliated with Hamas. They were fired. The European Union has said that Israel failed to reveal its allegations of widespread infiltration and resumed donations to the agency.
Mr Lizarini described his role in Gaza after the war began on Tuesday. He said he has provided two -thirds of all food aid, providing shelter to more than one million homeless Palestinians and vaccinated against polio for a quarter million children.
The first time on Tuesday was not when the United States stands alone at the Security Council in defense of Israel, which is a close ally. The Biden administration vetoed four ceasefire resolutions in the Security Council standing by Israel, saying it was not ready to end the war. Another close US ally, Britain, was one of the 14 other members of the Council who spoke against Israeli law.
“The main task of the UNRWA, James Crewi, said,” In order to ensure that Palestinians have access to education and health care, it is in Gaza as well as in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It should also be preserved. ” “They represent the most basic human rights.”
The UN Palestinian representative, Riyadh Mansour, told the council that Israel has long worked to abolish the agency as part of a strategy to keep the refugee status away from the displaced Palestinians. And thus they have the right to return to their old lands.
Mr Mansoor said, “There is no alternative to the Palestinian government, and UNRWA has no alternative.” “Israel does not need to choose and select it that represents the Palestinian people or representing the United Nations.”
