UNICEF Warns of “Deadly’ Effect on Palestinian Children
Gaza, MINA – UNICEF denounced, Thursday, a decision by Israel to ban activities of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and warned about its “deadly” effect on Palestinian children, Anadolu Agency reports.
“With the children of Gaza already facing one of the gravest humanitarian crises in recent history, if fully implemented, this decision will be deadly,” according to a statement by the UN Children’s Fund.
“UNRWA is the main UN agency providing essential services and protection to Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and is the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza,” it said.
Highlighting that “there is no alternative” to the agency, UNICEF stressed that “UNRWA is indispensable in delivering the urgent, life-saving assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need.”
It stressed the Agency’s extensive reach and noted that UNRWA operates with “over 18,000 employees in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” and said that “no UN agency can take over this responsibility.”
The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed a bill banning UNRWA from operating, which would eventually affect its work in the Gaza Strip, the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The legislation will take effect in 90 days.
UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, called the ban “unprecedented and dangerous”, and in violation of the UN Charter.
Israel has accused UNRWA employees of complicity in the 7 October, 2023 attack by the Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, alleging that the Agency’s educational programs “promote terrorism and hatred”.
UNRWA, headquartered in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, denies the accusations and asserts that it remains neutral, solely focusing on supporting refugees.
The agency, founded by a 1949 UN General Assembly resolution, provides aid and protection to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza.
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 devastating offensive on Gaza since the Hamas attack, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
More than 43,160 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,500 injured, according to local health authorities. (T/RE1/P2)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
