Saudi Foreign Minister discusses bilateral cooperation with UN refugee agency chief

Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, met in Riyadh on Wednesday with Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), to discuss avenues of cooperation, Anadolu Agency reports.

Talks between the two sides dwelt on bilateral cooperation and regional developments and efforts exerted in this regard, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement, without providing any details.

The meeting came amid growing Israeli pressure on UNRWA since 7 October, 2023, amid Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

In October 2024, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed a law that effectively bans UNRWA’s operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The law is set to take effect at the end of January 2025, three months after the vote.

Israel claims that some UNRWA employees were involved in the 7 October, 2023, attacks, an accusation vehemently denied by the UN agency. The UN has reaffirmed its commitment to neutrality, while Palestinians believe Israel aims to dismantle the agency and eliminate the refugee issue.

Founded in 1949, UNRWA provides assistance to Palestinian refugees who were displaced during the creation of Israel. Currently, the agency operates in five key regions: Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, serving nearly 5.9 million Palestinian refugees, according to its official data.

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 army has continued a genocidal war on the enclave that has killed almost 46,000, mostly women and children, since 7 October, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

READ: UNRWA: Hospitals in Gaza have become death traps