UN Warns of the Serious Consequences of the “Israeli Knesset’s” bills on UNRWA

The United Nations has warned that the three bills approved by the so-called Israeli Knesset on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) undermine the foundations of international law and multilateral standards and will have serious and immediate consequences that place UNRWA staff in direct danger.

This came during a meeting of the UN Security Council yesterday to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the adoption by the so-called “Knesset” of a bill that aimed at banning the agency’s operations in Occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem), and at withdrawing the UN privileges and immunity granted to UNRWA since 1949, and classifying UNRWA as a terrorist organization.

“The suffering in Gaza Strip is escalating despite the adoption by the UN Security Council of several resolutions aimed at ending the war,” WAFA quoted UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General Antonia Marie de Meo as saying in a video statement during the session.

De Meo explained that humanitarian access to Gaza Strip remains an impossible task with Israel’s continued aggression, insecurity and lawlessness, amid destroyed infrastructure, fuel shortages and restrictions on movement and communications. She stressed that no place is safe in Gaza, and no one is safe, including humanitarian workers.

She went on to say that the blatant disregard of international humanitarian law in Gaza Strip has become common. 199 agency workers were killed, several UNRWA schools have also been bombed, including 8 that were sheltering displaced people over the past two weeks, while more than 560 displaced people, including children and women, have died while taking refuge in UN headquarters.

For his part, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia described the bills approved by the Knesset as a “slap” to all efforts to achieve stability in the region, pointing out that the misleading campaign being waged against the agency based on outrageous allegations made by Israel about its employees has not been proven true, which necessitates the members of the Security Council to stand up to attempts to discredit one of the UN institutions and undermine its credibility.

In turn, China’s delegate to the United Nations said, “the tragedy discovered in the Gaza Strip tests the moral conscience of humanity and shakes the foundations of international justice, pointing out that the occupation has repeatedly crossed the red lines of international law and international humanitarian law, calling on the United States to exert greater pressure on “Israel” to help achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Algeria’s delegate to the United Nations said: “The warnings of the World Health Organization (WHO) about disease outbreaks among the displaced population in the sector cannot be ignored because preventable diseases will claim more lives due to the lack of basic medical equipment that is unjustly restricted under the pretexts of dual use”, calling for the opening of all border crossings, including the Rafah crossing and enable UNRWA and other humanitarian workers to distribute aid throughout Gaza.

Amal Farhat