Gaza - New York: Europe and Arabs - Agencies
Senior UN officials continued to defend the indispensable role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), warning that if the Israeli Knesset's decision to ban it is implemented, this will only deepen the suffering in Gaza. According to the UN daily news bulletin, a copy of which we received this Wednesday morning,
For his part, the spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza, Adnan Abu Hasna, confirmed that Israel considers the agency to represent the international will and the Palestinian refugee issue, and therefore seeks to liquidate it in order to liquidate the Palestinian refugee issue and eliminate the horizon of a political solution, including a two-state solution, which is what the Israeli government talks about all the time.
Abu Hasna said in an intervention with the "Russia Today" channel, the Israeli Knesset's decision to stop UNRWA's activities in Jerusalem will allow its effects to extend to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and push for the collapse of the humanitarian operation that UNRWA has been implementing there for 75 years, as there is a great denial of international legitimacy decisions.
Before the UN Security Council, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, stressed the need for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages. He urged the parties to engage constructively in urgent diplomatic efforts to calm the situation and avoid an endless spiral of death and destruction.
This came in Wennesland’s briefing to the Security Council during its regular meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue. 65 delegates, including representatives of the 15 Security Council members, are scheduled to address the Council.
Wennesland warned that “we are not only witnessing a horrific humanitarian nightmare in Gaza, but also the rapidly disintegrating prospects for a sustainable solution to this conflict.” He stressed to the Security Council the need to make every effort to calm the situation and establish a different path towards greater peace and stability in the region. “Israelis and Palestinians do not deserve this ongoing conflict that has devastated countless lives. They deserve a better future, one free from open conflict, occupation and regional war. We must do everything we can to chart a path towards a just and lasting peace that will establish a two-state solution,” he added.
The UN Secretary-General also expressed grave concern about the Israeli Knesset’s adoption of two laws related to UNRWA, “which, if implemented, are likely to prevent the Agency from continuing its essential work” in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with the mandate of the UN General Assembly.
The Knesset on Tuesday adopted two laws, one of which bans UNRWA’s activities inside Israel (and areas under its control), and the other prevents Israeli authorities from having contacts with the agency.
Secretary-General António Guterres said in a press statement that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is the primary means by which essential assistance is provided to Palestine refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory. He stressed that there is no alternative to UNRWA.
Guterres added that the application of the two laws could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory, "which is unacceptable." He called on Israel to act in accordance with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, international law, including international humanitarian law, and those related to the privileges and immunities of the United Nations. He said that national legislation cannot alter these obligations.

In his statement, Guterres said that the application of these two laws would harm the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and peace and security in the entire region. He stressed that UNRWA is indispensable.

The UN Secretary-General said that he would present this matter to the UN General Assembly and keep it closely informed of the developments in the situation.
A UNICEF official also said that Israel's decision to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating there would only exacerbate the situation in the Gaza Strip.
UNICEF Emergency Communications Specialist Joe English added in a special statement to CNN on Wednesday that there is no other organization capable of reaching children and families in need, or providing hospitals and health centers with medical staff, and schools with laboratories. English described life in Gaza as extremely difficult, stressing that it would become almost impossible if UNRWA's work was prevented.
Regarding the Israeli raid on the city of Beit Lahia yesterday, Tuesday, English said that this raid is the reality that children and families in Gaza live daily. He pointed out that citizens in northern Gaza are in dire need of life-saving aid in light of the ongoing Israeli military siege for about a month.
Palestine Red Crescent paramedics reported that seven wounded people were transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross field hospital, following an Israeli missile attack that targeted a home for the Bardawil family in the Al-Mawasi area west of Rafah city, in the southern Gaza Strip. Paramedics said the injuries varied, while the medical team continues to deal with the emergency situation in light of the increasing number of wounded due to the ongoing shelling. This shelling comes in the context of the ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza, where civilians are being subjected to shelling, which increases the burden on medical teams who work around the clock to treat and rescue the wounded despite the difficult conditions and lack of medical supplies.