Israel calls for UN Palestinian refugee agency's chief to resign

Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, on Monday demanded Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), to resign amid accusations for some Agency’s staff members of involvement in the 7 October attacks by Hamas, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Lazzarini should draw conclusions and resign. Supporters of terrorism are not welcome here,” Katz wrote on his X account.

The Israeli Minister said he cancelled planned meetings on Wednesday between his ministry officials and Lazzarini.

Katz repeated accusations that at least a dozen of UNRWA staff members participated in the attacks on 7 October on Israeli sites around the Gaza Strip.

At least 12 countries – Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Finland, Australia, the UK, Netherlands, the US, France, Austria and Japan – have suspended funds for UNRWA, which was established in 1949 to cater to Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

UNRWA said it terminated contracts with several employees following the Israeli allegations.

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Israel has repeatedly equated UNRWA staff with Hamas members in efforts to discredit them, providing no proof of the claims, while lobbying hard to have UNRWA closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees. If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.

The Israeli accusations came as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday found South Africa’s claim that Israel is committing genocide plausible. The Court issued an interim order urging Israel to stop obstructing aid deliveries into Gaza and to improve the humanitarian situation.

Flouting the ICJ’s provisional rulings, Israel continues its onslaught on the Gaza Strip where at least 26,637 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 65,387 others injured since 7 October, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel says nearly 1,200 people have been killed in the Hamas attack.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

The Israeli offensive has left 85 per cent of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 per cent of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

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