Israel’s parliament has passed a law to prohibit for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) to work on its territory, AFP reports. He has done so despite the objections of the United States.
The project has gone ahead with 92 votes in favor and 10 against. Israeli criticism of UNRWA, which has increased since the start of the war in Gaza.
own agency has condemned the voteeven more “scandalous” coming from a member country of the United Nations and UNRWA being “the largest intervener in the humanitarian operation in Gaza”, devastated by more than a year of war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, has expressed Juliette Touma, UNRWA spokesperson, told AFP.
If the law “is adopted and implemented, it is a disaster, especially because of the impact it will likely have on humanitarian operations in Gaza and various parts of the West Bank,” he added.
For his part, the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, has condemned on the social network that the measure “creates a dangerous precedent”, while denouncing the latest episode of “an ongoing campaign to discredit” the UN agency, estimating that this ban was going to “aggravate the suffering of the Palestinians.
The text, voted on first reading in July, proposes prohibiting “UNRWA activities in Israeli territory”, including in East Jerusalem, a sector of the holy city occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967.
UNRWA, created by the UN General Assembly in 1949, It mainly manages health centers and schools in Gaza and the West Bank and is considered “the backbone” of international aid in Gaza.
#Israel #bans #agency #Palestinian #refugees #operating #country #law
