Published September 27,2024
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged world leaders on Thursday to extend help for the UN company for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which supplies important companies to just about 6 million individuals.
A high-level assembly, co-organized by Jordan and Sweden, in help of UNRWA was held on the margins of the UN General Assembly conferences in New York the place Guterres described the state of affairs within the Gaza Strip as “beyond imagination.”
“We have failed the people of Gaza. They are in a living hell that somehow gets even worse by the day,” he mentioned.
He emphasised that “there is no alternative to UNRWA” and urged all UN member states to “work on all fronts to intensify support for the agency’s vital mission.”
Guterres mentioned UNRWA “is not a sustainable long-term solution to the plight of Palestine Refugees,” and reiterated his demand for an instantaneous humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, launch of hostages and a two-state political answer between Palestine and Israel with Jerusalem because the capital of each states.
“But until that moment, UNRWA remains indispensable,” he mentioned, urging states to offer “full support.”
The UN chief mentioned 2 million Palestinians are crammed right into a small space, residing amid “lakes of sewage, piles of rubbish, and mountains of rubble” and warned that “the only certainty is that tomorrow will be worse.”
“Yet if there is any outpost of hope in this hellscape, it is UNRWA,” he mentioned.
The company is going through immense challenges on the operational and political stage, in accordance with Guterres, who mentioned that “222 UNRWA colleagues have been killed, many together with entire families, several in the line of duty,” and it’s “the highest death toll in UN history.”
Guterres highlighted Israeli “campaigns that discredit the agency’s life-saving work,” and famous the choice by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, to categorise UNRWA as a terror group.
“In the face of the catastrophic conditions, UNRWA perseveres,” he mentioned.
The UN chief expressed “full confidence in UNRWA’s continued commitment to upholding the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and humanity and to implement the recommendations of the Independent Review by Catherine Colonna.”
He mentioned UN member states are additionally displaying the identical confidence within the company.
“Virtually all donors have reversed their funding suspensions,” he mentioned. “This underscores the consensus that UNRWA’s role across the West Bank and the region is vital.”
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa thanked all nations that present help to UNRWA, and mentioned Israel’s assaults on the company “are all part of a systematic campaign aimed at eliminating” it. “Israel’s goals are clear: to negate the legitimate refugee status of millions and their right to return.”
He urged member states to not “allow Israel to get away with spreading such lies and incitement, we cannot allow such dangerous precedents.”
He highlighted UNRWA’s important position within the Palestinian refugee disaster.
“Since the Nakba, UNRWA has been a lifeline for Palestine refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Today, in Gaza in particular, UNRWA is more than just a service provider, it is a sanctuary standing between life and death for many,” he mentioned.
Israel was established in May 1948 on occupied Palestinian lands, displacing greater than 750,000 Palestinians in what is named the Nakba, or the Great Catastrophe.
Source: www.anews.com.tr