The U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA said on Friday that if its humanitarian work in Gaza is forced to halt, it would put a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas at risk.
The Israeli government ban on UNRWA over national security concerns and links to terrorism began Jan. 30. UNRWA has called the move by Jerusalem as "disastrous."
LONDON - Britain, France and Germany on J an 31 reiterated their “grave concern” over Israel implementing a law forbidding any contact between its officials and UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.
Iman Helles, a displaced mother sheltering in a facility run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, fears that she will now be “thrown out to the streets” with her three children.
Implementation of a ban on the U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA in Israel - due to start on Thursday - will be disastrous, the UNRWA chief told the Security Council on Tuesday, as the United States accused it of being "irresponsible and dangerous.
Millions of Palestinians rely on the UN agency, not only in Gaza but also across the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. | ITV National News
The directive came in a letter to the U.N., after the Israeli Parliament banned the relief agency that has aided Palestinian refugees for decades.
Israel demands UNRWA halt operations in Jerusalem by January 30, citing Hamas ties and security risks. The move follows Knesset legislation severing ties with the agency.
In the Shuafat refugee camp, a hardscrabble district in east Jerusalem surrounded by a hulking concrete wall, intense security checks make venturing out exasperating.
Israel has formally banned the main United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees from operating on its territory despite heavy diplomatic backlash.
Israel, backed by Washington, will cease contact with the UN's Palestinian humanitarian relief agency UNRWA and any body acting on its behalf, its UN envoy said Tuesday, drawing condemnation from aid groups.