UNRWA Staff Stage General Strike in Gaza

GAza, MINA – A general strike prevailed on Monday in UNRWA’s schools and institutions in the Gaza Strip as a protest step at UNRWA’s decision to scale down its operations and dismiss hundreds of employees in the coastal enclave.

Work was halted at all UNRWA facilities in Gaza, and over half a million students did not go to their schools.

Secretary of UNRWA Employees Union in Gaza Yousef Hamdouna said that this strike will be followed by other protest steps against the US decision to cut funds to the UN agency, PIC reported.

UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl last Monday launched a campaign under the slogan “Dignity is Priceless” to collect funds to the UN agency.

UNRWA Employees Union on Sunday announced a general strike in all UNRWA institutions in Gaza in rejection of recent measures.

The union said in a statement that UNRWA “has closed all doors of dialogue” after it laid off 956 employees and threatened to end contracts of hundreds of teachers who have temporary jobs or hold diploma degrees.

It added that a press conference will be held next Thursday at Gaza Regional Office to announce new protest steps against the “crimes committed against UNRWA employees”.

UNRWA was established by a General Assembly decision in 1949, and it was mandated to provide aid and protection to about five million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, West Bank, and Gaza Strip.

UNRWA offers services in the fields of education, health care, relief, social services, infrastructure, protection, and microcredit.

In early January, US president Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to the Palestinians if they did not return to the negotiating table.(R/R04/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)