ISRAEL VS UNRWA
Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, on Monday praised the anticipated strikes by Trump, accusing the Human Rights Council of “aggressively selling excessive anti-Semitism”.
“On the identical time, UNRWA has lengthy misplaced its standing as an impartial humanitarian organisation, and has become a terrorist authority managed by Hamas beneath the guise of a humanitarian company,” he mentioned.
UNRWA Commissioner-Basic Philippe Lazzarini mentioned final week that the company has been the goal of a “fierce disinformation marketing campaign” to “painting the company as a terrorist organisation”.
The US was UNRWA’s largest donor – offering US$300 million to US$400 million a 12 months – however Biden paused funding in January 2024 after Israel accused a few dozen UNRWA employees of collaborating within the lethal Oct 7, 2023, assault on Israel by Palestinian militants Hamas that triggered the conflict in Gaza.
The US Congress then formally suspended contributions to UNRWA till a minimum of March 2025. UNRWA offers help, well being and training providers to tens of millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Financial institution, together with East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
The UN has mentioned that 9 UNRWA employees could have been concerned within the Oct 7, 2023, assault and had been fired. A Hamas commander in Lebanon – killed in September by Israel – was additionally discovered to have had a UNRWA job. The UN has vowed to analyze all accusations made and repeatedly requested Israel for proof, which it says has not been supplied.
An Israeli ban went into impact on Jan 30 that prohibits UNRWA from working on its territory or speaking with Israeli authorities. UNRWA has mentioned operations in Gaza and West Financial institution can even endure.
