Egypt condemns targeting of UNRWA

Egypt’s foreign minister has condemned the attempts to target the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and prevent it from providing essential life-saving services to the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and elsewhere. Sameh Shoukry made his remarks at the high-level segment (HLS) of the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, the foreign ministry has reported.

Shoukry also criticised the international community and accused it of applying double standards in handling Israel’s war in Gaza. While the world has failed to take a decisive decision on a ceasefire in Gaza, he said, it is doing everything in its power to stop war elsewhere. This, he warned, gives Israel the green light to continue its violations of Palestinians human rights.

“It seems that life in Gaza does not meet the concerns of the Human Rights Council and does not move its sensitive feelings,” said Shoukry.

He stressed that Egypt has been keen since the outbreak of the crisis to ensure the flow of aid and to continue its efforts to review the ceasefire deal, end the Israeli occupation and give the Palestinians the right to self-determination. “Egypt plays an important role in promoting human rights,” he added.

The Egyptian minister has also urged the UNHRC to address international crises free from politicisation which is evident in the increasingly racist practices and incitement to hatred against immigrants and refugees. There is also the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia and criminal acts of burning copies of the Qur’an.

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