The headquarters UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem remains closed this Friday after Israeli residents They set fire to its perimeter twice on Thursday when there were employees of that and other United Nations organizations inside.
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“In light of this second egregious incident in less than a week, “I have made the decision to close our complex until adequate security is restored,” reported the general commissioner of that agency, Philippe Lazzarini, who described the event as “scandalous.”
“The lives of UN staff were at serious risk,” he denounced.
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Lazzarini explained that The headquarters manager and other employees had to put out the fire themselves, since the Israeli fire extinguishers and the police took a while to appear.
“A crowd accompanied by armed men was seen outside the complex chanting ‘Burn the United Nations,'” Lazzarini said of the perpetrators of the attack, scenes that were also spread on social networks.
In a video published on his account on X and recorded from outside the venue, Protesters can also be heard shouting “Burn the United Nations!” while a UN employee tries to put out the flames with a garden hose.
Lazzarini had already published a video on Tuesday from inside the offices in which protesters were seen damaging the entrance fence.
During the last two months, Israeli extremists have been staging protests outside the UNRWA compound in Jerusalem, convened by an elected member of the Jerusalem municipality. But the protests turned more violent this week when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and buildings in the complex.
These accusations caused many donor countries to cut their funding to UNRWA, although most have resumed it in the absence of conclusive evidence presented by Israel.
Israel has repeatedly equated UNRWA with Hamaswhose attack on October 7 left 1,200 dead in Israel, most of them civilians.
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The latest report speaks of 180 UNRWA officials killed in Gaza, 160 facilities damaged or destroyed and “at least 400 people who died seeking the protection of the UN flag.”
Lazzarini insisted that It is the responsibility of the State of Israel, “as the occupying power”, to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected “in accordance with international law” and called for the perpetrators of the attacks to be investigated and held accountable.
EFE AND AFP
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