UNRWA’s work and mandate are in ‘jeopardy’, Guterres warns

Speaking at an annual ministerial meeting on the body’s work during High Level Week in New York, the UN Secretary General stated that the nearly 400 UN members UNRWAWorkers in Gaza have been killed, and hundreds of buildings in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are “inaccessible, seriously damaged, or completely destroyed.”

“These actions are completely unacceptable and inconsistent with Israel’s obligations under international law, including those of Israel UN Charterhe said.

In an extremely challenging environment, he said, UNRWA provides essential public services to Palestinians, but its work and the entire mandate of the General Assembly are now in “jeopardy”.

Nearly two years ago, the Israeli Knesset passed a law banning the UN agency from operating on Israeli territory – including East Jerusalem – and cutting off all cooperation between Israeli officials and UNRWA.

The Israeli government seized and began destroying UNRWA’s main compound in Jerusalem in January. The UN and several countries argue that the punitive law passed by parliament violates Israel’s obligations under the UN Charter and Security Council resolution 2730 on the protection of humanitarian personnel.

Campaign against the agency

According to the UN Secretary General, the agency has done this excluded from coordination meetings with Israeli authorities regarding humanitarian operations in Gaza and elsewhere, while staff visas are no longer granted by Israel and personnel are subjected to intimidation.

He added that UNRWA continues to face a severe financial crisis, “with a cash shortfall of $100 million”, putting operations at risk and threatening the well-being of millions of Palestinian refugees.

Guterres called on member states to take urgent action as UNRWA’s capacity to act was “gravely threatened” and regional stability was “at stake”.

‘Conditions still intolerable’

He highlighted that ongoing Israeli attacks continue to kill an average of four people per day, “a quarter of them children”, while international law is “inadvertently violated”.

“The resumption of aid since a ceasefire was announced last October has provided some relief – but conditions remain intolerable,” said Mr Guterres.

He said settler attacks and efforts to expand settlements in the West Bank had pushed Palestinians to “breaking point” and posed a threat to a two-state solution.

Amid this instability, he said, UNRWA remains “an important stabilizing presence” and a lifeline for many Palestinian refugees.

‘Unseen level’

said interim UNRWA Commissioner General, Christian Saunders the agency’s more than 10,000 personnel in Gaza are still helping 1.7 million peopleincluding around 70,000 medical consultations a week.

He said displacement in the West Bank “is moderate levels unprecedented since 1967”.

Forty-one of the 50 recommendations of an independent neutrality review into UNRWA operations have been fully implemented, the Commissioner General said, and a “leaner UNRWA” does not mean changes to its mandate.

Said the Commissioner General 94 percent of people in Gaza do not have adequate shelter and 98 percent of households live near environmental hazards such as raw sewage and debris, and humanitarian partners warn of major gaps as winter approaches.

In occupied East Jerusalem, actions against UNRWA have culminated in the seizure of its headquarters, vocational training centers, schools and health facilities, he said, calling on member states to advocate for the agency to be given “space to operate” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in accordance with its mandate.

Watch Mr. Saunders at UN Headquarters below:

President of the General Assembly Khalilur Rahman says humanitarian access is “non-negotiable” and calls on Member States to develop this New York Declaration to implement a two-state solution, through the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2803.

Victims of ‘political assassination’

Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, whose country is co-hosting with Spain and Brazil, said UNRWA “is still a target for political assassinations” despite its reforms, and warned against changing its mandate or shifting its responsibilities to host countries.

Safadi said the host countries had “already done enough” and UNRWA would no longer be needed once a sovereign Palestinian state was established.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno said Spain had committed more than €85 million to UNRWA over the past three years and urged other donors to follow its lead.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira condemned the closure and destruction of UNRWA buildings in East Jerusalem and said the source of the crisis facing the agency was “political in nature”.

Vieira said Brazil had proposed the creation of a disinformation working group during the chairmanship of the UNRWA Advisory Committee, and condemned plans to build military structures on the site of the agency’s headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah.