Israel says UNRWA must halt operations in Al-Quds by Jan. 30
TEHRAN (Iran News) UNRWA should end its operations and leave its premises in Al-Quds no later than January 30, Israel’s ambassador Danny Danon said in a letter to UN Secretary General António Guterres on Friday.
In October 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed two bills that bar UNRWA from operating in occupied territories, and restrict its activities in Gaza and the West Bank on allegations that some of the agency’s staff members had assisted Hamas in its Al-Aqsa Storm Operation on the regime on October 7, 2023.
Israel passed the laws despite widespread international opposition and concerns that a halt to UNRWA activities would severely impact basic services to Palestinian refugees. The UN Security Council has said UNRWA remained the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza, and affirmed that no organization can replace the agency’s capacity to serve Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA has been rendering services to Palestinian refugees, including water, food, healthcare and education, since 1950. Currently, almost seven million Palestinian refugees receive UNRWA services in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Al-Quds, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, according to the agency.
- source : irna
