TEHRAN, Nov 8 — The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that millions of Palestinians will plunge into chaos unless UN member states intervene to stop the enforcement of Israeli laws banning the agency, Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
“Without intervention by member states, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” Philippe Lazzarini told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), adding that his agency is facing its “darkest hour.”
The UNGA met in New York on Wednesday, more than a week after the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, approved two laws that bar UNRWA from operating in Israeli-controlled areas and severely limit its activities in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. These laws will take effect 90 days after their approval on October 29.
“Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israeli officials have described dismantling UNRWA as a war goal. The Knesset legislation serves this objective”, Lazzarini said at the UNGA meeting, according to a press release by UNRWA.
He added that Israel’s “intention goes beyond undermining UNRWA and the United Nations. It seeks to end Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and aspiration for a just political solution.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour addressed the same UNGA session on Wednesday, saying that Israel’s ban on UNRWA is part of the regime’s “long-running attempts to liquidate the question of Palestine.”
He slammed Israel’s “open assault” on the UN by targeting UNRWA, which he described as the “backbone” of the international humanitarian response in Gaza.
The Palestinian envoy also warned that the ongoing genocide in Gaza “will not end by itself”, emphasising that the UN and its member states have a duty to stop it.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing imminent death as we speak, he added.
— Bernama
