UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses reporters. UN Secretary-General on Israel’s plan to ban UNRWA: ‘It would be another disaster within a disaster’ UN
The UN Secretary-General expressed deep concern on Tuesday over plans by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, to vote on a bill banning the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the country. According to Antonio Guterres, he sent a message to this effect directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Knesset Vote
The document, if adopted, would undermine efforts to “alleviate human suffering and reduce tensions in Gaza and throughout the occupied Palestinian territory,” the UN chief stressed. “It would be another catastrophe in the midst of the absolute catastrophe that is already unfolding,” he added.
According to media reports, the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee has approved for consideration a bill banning the activities of the UN Refugee Agency (UNRWA) in Israel. The document orders the closure of all of the agency’s facilities in Israel and prohibits any cooperation with it, including issuing visas to its employees.
“A Terrible Blow”
Operationally, the law is likely to deal a “terrible blow to the international humanitarian response” in Gaza, Guterres continued, recalling that the UN agency’s work is an integral part of operations in Gaza. “It will effectively end coordination to protect UN convoys, offices and shelters serving hundreds of thousands of people,” the Secretary-General stressed. “Without UNRWA, food supplies, shelter and health care for much of Gaza will be cut off.”
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Without UNRWA, 660,000 Gazan children will lose out on education, meaning an entire generation of Palestinian children will suffer, the UN Secretary-General has warned. He recalled that health, education and social services would also be denied to residents of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The bill, according to António Guterres, is contrary to the UN Charter and, if adopted, would violate Israel’s obligations under international law.
“National legislation cannot change these obligations,” he said.
From a political perspective, such a law would be a “massive step back” in efforts to resolve the conflict based on a two-State solution, as it would only increase instability, the Secretary-General is convinced.
“The Year crises”
The UN Secretary General described all the horrors that have been happening in Gaza for almost a year now: 41,000 dead, destruction, mass and multiple forced displacements. He called the past year “a year of crises” – humanitarian, political, diplomatic and moral.
“Following the horrific terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7, Gaza has become the epicentre of human suffering,” he said.
“Powder Keg”
The UN Secretary General warned that the situation in the occupied West Bank is escalating, and that military action in Lebanon threatens to shake the entire region. In recent days, fighting between Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon and the Israel Defense Forces has intensified on both sides of the Blue Line, in violation of Security Council resolutions 1701 and 1559, Guterres said. The clashes have already killed more people than in the 2006 war in Lebanon, he said.
“The conflict in the Middle East is escalating by the hour, and our warnings of the dire consequences of this escalation continue to come true,” the Secretary-General said. He called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, the unconditional release of hostages, and the delivery of aid to all those in need.
The UN chief also said the international community cannot give up on calls for a two-state solution to the situation, based on the principle of coexistence between Israel and Palestine. “All people in the region deserve to live in peace,” he concluded his address.