NEW YORK: United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres on Friday said that there is no alternative to the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA and 118 nations backed the relief organization as indispensable, amid growing efforts by Israel to dismantle it.
The UN Relief and Works Agency provides health, education and aid to millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Since the war started nine months ago between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, UN officials have stressed that UNRWA is the backbone of aid operations.
“My appeal to everyone is this: Protect UNRWA, protect UNRWA staff, and protect UNRWA’s mandate — including through funding,” Guterres told an UNRWA pledging conference in New York on Friday. “Let me be clear: there is no alternative to UNRWA.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the dismantling of UNRWA accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement, while Israel’s parliament is currently considering declaring UNRWA as a terrorist organization.
Several countries stopped their funding to UNRWA after accusations by Israel that some of the agency’s staff were involved in the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war. The majority of the donors have since resumed their funding, while the UN is conducting an internal investigation.
“UNRWA is also being targeted in other ways,” Guterres said. He added that UNRWA staff have been targeted many times. He said some have been detained by security forces of Israel, and later reported torture and mistreatment. The UN Chief noted that in the West Bank, the presence of UNRWA staff has also been restricted severely by Israel.
The Israeli army has said it acts according to Israeli law and those it arrests get food, medication, proper clothing and water.
UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 after the first Arab-Israeli war. Jordan’s UN Ambassador Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud on Friday said that 118 countries had signed a joint statement supporting UNRWA and its operations.
The statement said that UNRWA is the backbone of all humanitarian work in Gaza, and recognized that no organization can replace or substitute UNRWA’s capacity.
