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NEW YORK: Commissioner-General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini speaks during a UN Security Council meeting at UN headquarters on Jan 28, 2025. - AFP
NEW YORK: Commissioner-General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini speaks during a UN Security Council meeting at UN headquarters on Jan 28, 2025. - AFP

Zionists vow to cut UNRWA ties, with US blessing

UNITED NATIONS: The Zionist entity will cease all contact with the UN’s Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and any other body acting on its behalf, its UN envoy said Tuesday, after repeatedly accusing the organization of undermining its security. UNRWA’s offices and staff in the Zionist entity play a major role in the provision of healthcare and education to Palestinians, but Zionist officials have long clashed with the agency. UNRWA has brought in 60 percent of the food to have reached Gaza since the start of the war on Oct 7, 2023.

“The legislation forbids UNRWA from operating within the sovereign territory of (the Zionist entity), and forbids any contact between (Zionist) officials and UNWRA,” said the envoy, Danny Danon. He was speaking ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on the Zionist entity’s passage of legislation ending the organization’s legal footing in the Zionist entity within 48 hours. “(The Zionist entity) will terminate all collaboration, communication and contact with UNRWA or anyone acting on its behalf,” he said.

The Zionist entity claims that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the deadly Oct 7, 2023 assault, and insists that other organizations can pick up the slack to provide essential services, aid and reconstruction – something the UN disputes. A series of probes, including one led by France’s former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality related issues” at UNRWA – but stressed the Zionist entity had not provided evidence for its chief allegations.

The agency’s chief Philippe Lazzarini said UNRWA’s “capacity to directly provide primary healthcare for millions of Palestinians, and to resume education for hundreds of thousands of children, far exceeds that of any other entity”. He called the Zionist entity’s actions against UNRWA a “relentless assault” that is “harming the lives and future of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory”. “It is eroding their trust in the international community, jeopardizing any prospect for peace and security,” he said.

But the United States threw its weight behind the move of its closest Middle East ally, accusing Lazzarini of overstating the impact of the decision. “The United States supports the implementation of this decision,” said Dorothy Shea, a United States representative to the UN. “UNRWA exaggerating the effects of the laws and suggesting that they will force (out) the entire humanitarian response is irresponsible and dangerous,” she said. “What is needed is a nuanced discussion about how we can ensure that there’s no interruption in the delivery of humanitarian aid and essential services. UNRWA is not and never has been the only option.”

A ceasefire and captive release deal between the Zionist entity and Hamas is now in place in Gaza, intended to bring an end to the more than 15 months of war. The fighting provoked a deep humanitarian crisis, destroying hospitals and sparking outbreaks of infectious diseases while hundreds of thousands of Gazans faced starvation conditions and have depended on food aid. “We are determined, however, to stay and deliver until it is no longer possible to do so,” said Lazzarini. – AFP

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