UNRWA spokesman says UN, not Israel, mandates agency to help Palestinians

A spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), pointed out yesterday that the UN mandates the agency to help the Palestinians, and not Israel. UNRWA, added Adnan Abu Hasna, will continue its work despite the Israeli ban.

Abu Hasna noted in a statement published on the official UNRWA website that Israel has suspended the agency’s work in East Jerusalem because it believes that by getting it closed down, the Palestinian refugee issue will be liquidated as well as the political solution and the two-state solution. This has been made clear by Israeli officials.

He stressed that UNRWA constitutes a lifeline for Palestinian refugees, and the Israeli decision will have disastrous consequences for them in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Abu Hasna also said that Israel has a long history of contradictions and hidden hostility with the agency, but today the issue has become more serious and dangerous and is in the form of legislation for the first time since the agency started its operations in 1949.

The Israeli government has tried in recent months to replace UNRWA, which has more than 30,000 employees in the Middle East, including 13,000 in Gaza, with smaller organisations or other UN agencies. Most of its employees are Palestinians.

According to Abu Hasna, UNRWA provides some degree of security and stability in the region and operates in five countries. At the moment, there is no alternative.

The Israeli Knesset — parliament — approved a law on Monday banning UNRWA from operating inside Israel. The legislation describes the UN agency as a “terror” group.

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