UN Secretary General, in his statement, he warned of imminent legislation by the Israeli Prime Minister which would prohibit the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to operate in occupied Palestinian territory. Guterres described the potential humanitarian crisis as “a catastrophe” and underlined that the proposed laws would likely reduce the capacity to assist in providing aid in one of the most urgent need areas –Gaza.
As per the recommended bills approved by the Israeli Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the security ministry has issued the warning. The first bill aims to dismantle the UNRWA operations located within the territory of Israel and the second intends to maintain protection of the immunity of UNRWA staff against the UNRWA staff protection which is applicable to UN personnel working in the same territory. If such laws are enacted, UNRWA would have to reduce its funding for Palestinian refugees which makes them vulnerable.
According to Guterres, the UN RWA should be the priority because it is the best way to guarantee that the education, healthcare, and other needs of a large population of people of the Middle East, including the Palestinian people are covered. It would be a disaster for many people who have barely ever even heard of the basic terms of healthcare available on the planet like the people of Gaza. The Secretary-General noted that if the operation to be halted were to end, then the people affected in Gaza, which now was suffering from ‘acute crisis’, could see no better future than an emergency.
This legislation also raises important questions regarding the coexistence of Israel and the UN Relief and Works Agency for the War- Affected Peoples’ people. A lot of people have questioned the agency because they have not believed that US, Canada and some other countries have actually supported Israel like how it supported the agency’s creation. The violence even increased when several of the employees from the UNRWA organization from 7th October are identified as Hamas attackers. On the other hand, there were several UNROs probes like one in the work of former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna which led to only minor “neutrality related issues” within UNRWA; however, it cannot be concluded that there was any conclusive evidence that proved Israel’s claims because there was nothing specific regarding that probe. As reported by Israel, 9 out of the 18 accused employees have been indicated to be involved in the attack although a conclusion of a proceeding within the agency revealed that nine could potentially carry out such a criminality.
There have been substantial financial losses resulting from the conflict. According to what the head of the agency has stated to me, at least 223 of the agency’s employees have lost their lives and half of its assets in the Gaza strip has been seriously damaged or destroyed. It has hindered the agency’s ability to address the Palestinian population during a crisis such as hunger, illness, shelterlessness, and insufficient health care needs.
Another criticism from Guterres is for the ongoing withdrawal orders issued by the Israel government and this has resulted in many Palestinians having to be transferred throughout the Gaza Strip. He also highlighted that these civilians are at no safe shelter and are living in an overcrowded areas of Gaza, which has no functioning other than limited services, and even so, they are polluting the air as well as their own environment. This is the statement by Mr. Jones who is concerned about the issue of moving people without providing them with shelters, food, medicine and access to clean water as for a long-term or humane approach.
The final comment by Guterres is very clear: this conflict is wrong and it seems to be ongoing, indicating that perhaps there is a misunderstanding or that the conflict has a higher intention. He advised Israel that the law should not be made, and he urged Israel to stop this because he was sure that it was not necessary and that it was never going to be justified to the international community.
This could result in even more tension between the governments of Israel and those of the other UN members, thus worsening the living conditions of the refugees for whom UNRWA provides necessary assistance.
