Israel’s UNRWA prevents ‘new level in war against UN’, says Palestinian envoy | Israel-Palestine Conflicts News

Israel’s move to close the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) marks a “new level” in its war with the UN, the Palestinian envoy to the UN has said.

Israel’s parliament or Knesset approved bills on Monday aimed at preventing UNRWA from operating in Israel.

UNRWA supports Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank, which includes East Jerusalem, and surrounding countries.

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the Knesset’s law to close UNRWA “includes a new level in this war against the UN and an important part of the attack on the Palestinian people”.

He mentioned how Israel declared UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “persona non grata” – and killed, imprisoned and tortured UN staff and UN peacekeepers.

Mansour noted that many countries have criticized Israel’s decision to close UNRWA.

“And yet Israel is still sitting among us and using its seat to promote the fight against the UN … Mansour asked.

UNRWA has provided vital aid, education, and health care throughout Palestine and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades.

But since Israel’s war on Gaza began last October, the organization itself has suffered heavy losses, with at least 223 of its employees killed and two-thirds of its facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed.

Danny Danon, Israel’s representative to the UN, told the Security Council that UNRWA in Gaza had become a base for Hamas, the Palestinian armed group.

Israeli authorities have long called for the organization to be disbanded, saying its mission is outdated and that it promotes anti-Israel sentiment among its employees, in its schools and in its wider social work. UNRWA strongly opposes this aspect.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past also called on the United States, Israel’s main ally and main sponsor of the organization, to withdraw its support.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini called the Israeli lawmakers’ vote a “dangerous precedent” and said it was the latest in an ongoing campaign to discredit the agency and “legitimize its role in providing humanitarian aid and services to Palestinian refugees”.

Israel’s decision to close UNRWA will represent a form of collective punishment for the people of Gaza if it is fully implemented, said UN office spokesman Jens Laerke.

Russia, China, Qatar, European countries and international rights groups also condemned the vote in the Israeli parliament.

Reporting from the UN headquarters in New York City, Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo said that a number of countries have expressed their support for UNRWA.

“The Secretary-General of the UN said that he will refer this issue to the General Assembly (GA). There is a final move by the GA to impose sanctions on Israel,” Elizondo added.

The Security Council meeting came as Israel continued to attack Gaza, killing at least 115 people on Tuesday, including 109 in the northern part of the territory, according to Palestinian authorities.

“Israel crossed all the red lines, broke all the laws, crossed all the barriers. When is enough really enough? When will you do it? He is the Security Council. You must reach every single person in pain among the Palestinians. That is your job,” Mansour said at the UN Security Council meeting.

“By ending impunity and ensuring accountability, by ending this terrible injustice, let your actions match your words. Stop this carnage or be silent forever.”