From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
UNRWA chief says ban will lead to a vacuum and more suffering for Palestinians
The head of the UN agency caring for Palestinian refugees says newly passed Israeli laws effectively banning its activities in Israel will leave a vacuum that will cost more lives and create further instability in Gaza and the West Bank.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, tells The Associated Press that the legislation is “ultimately against the Palestinians themselves,” effectively denying them a functioning provider of lifesaving services, education and health care.
Israel alleges that Hamas and other terrorists have infiltrated UNRWA, and this week called the agency “rotten.” Other aid groups say the agency’s strong, decades-old infrastructure across Gaza is irreplaceable.
The laws, passed by Knesset this week, sever all ties with UNRWA and ban its operations in Israel. And since the agency’s operations in Gaza and the West Bank must go through Israeli authorities, the laws threaten to close its activities there as well. The laws are expected to come into effect in three months.
If the Israeli decision is implemented “this would be a total disaster, it is like throwing [out] the baby with the water,” Lazzarini tells the AP, speaking in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, where he is attending a conference to discuss the Mideast conflict.
“Having UNRWA ending its activities within the three months would also mean more people will die in Gaza.”
“We have today 1 in 2 persons in Gaza below the age of 18, among them 650,000 girls and boys living in the rubble, deeply traumatized at the age of primary and secondary school,” he said. “Getting rid of UNRWA is also a way to tell these children that you will have no future. We are just sacrificing your education. Education is the only thing which has never, ever been taken away from the Palestinians.”
Israel says UNRWA schools have long contained materials educating to hatred of the Jewish state. It also argues it is possible to provide for the needs of Gaza’s population through other groups it views as less tainted.
