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Displaced Palestinians queue to receive food parcels for their families at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) center in Khan Younis. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa/Archive image
Keystone
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini appeals to the UN Security Council to save the Palestinian relief organization from being banned by Israel. "The implementation of the Knesset legislation will increase instability and deepen despair in the occupied Palestinian territories at a critical moment," Lazzarini told the UN's most powerful body in New York. He called for "a decisive intervention in support of peace and stability in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the wider region".
Lazzarini emphasized the importance of UNRWA in view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation, especially in Gaza during the war with Israel. "In fact, UNRWA provides half of the emergency aid, while all other agencies provide the other half. Since October 2023, we have provided two thirds of all food aid, housed over a million displaced people and vaccinated a quarter of a million children against polio," emphasized the Italian.
Over as early as Thursday?
Without the UNRWA educational facilities, "we will sacrifice an entire generation of Palestinian children", warned Lazzarini. Addressing the members of the UN Security Council, he said: "We are in a position to do something, it just requires your decisive action and leadership."
Israel accuses the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency that some of its employees have been involved in Hamas terror activities. The Israeli parliament subsequently passed a law banning UNRWA from working on Israeli territory and prohibited Israeli officials from cooperating with the organization. The regulation is due to come into force on January 30.
28.01.2025, 17:56
