Netanyahu contacted
UN chief protests in letter against UNRWA ban
UN Secretary-General António Guterres sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday protesting against the ban on work for the Palestinian relief organization UNRWA in Israel. The veto powers of the United Nations have also criticized the work ban passed by the Israeli parliament with rare unanimity.
According to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Israel wants to continue to meet its obligations with other organizations. "Israel is committed to international law and the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza" and will meet its international obligations - but humanitarian aid for Gaza will in future be provided by other organizations, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Oren Mamorstein, told the German Press Agency.
Israel wants to work with other UN agencies
Israel will continue to work with UN agencies and international organizations. He cited the World Food Programme, the UN Children's Fund Unicef and the World Health Organization as examples.
Guterres reminds Israel of the duties of an occupying power
In a letter to Netanyahu - obtained by the AFP news agency - UN Secretary-General Guterres appeals "to you and the Israeli government" to prevent the potentially "devastating consequences and to allow UNRWA to continue its activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with its obligations under international law". Israel, as the occupying power, is "obliged to ensure that the needs of the population are met" - and if it is unable to do so, it must allow and facilitate the UN's activities.
Previously, the veto powers of the United Nations had criticized the ban on UNRWA work in Israel passed by Israel's parliament with rare unity. The USA is "deeply concerned about this legislation", said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington.
Criticism: "Collective punishment of millions of Palestinians"
China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong condemned it "in the strongest terms" in the UN Security Council. Closing the aid organization would be a "collective punishment of millions of Palestinian refugees", he said. Russia's Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia warned against a definitive end to the aid organization: "We support the UN Secretary-General's statement that UNRWA is irreplaceable and that there is no alternative to it today."
The decision by the Israeli parliament on Monday evening means that UNRWA will hardly be able to continue its operations in the Palestinian territories because Israel controls the border crossings. Israel accuses the Palestinian relief organization that some of its employees have been involved in terrorist activities. Israel has provided the United Nations with details of around one hundred people employed by UNRWA who are also alleged to be members of the terrorist organization Hamas, said Mamorstein.
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