WNAM REPORT: The steps taken by Israel against the activities of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) “clearly violate international law,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
“By targeting UNRWA, Israel aims to destroy the two-state solution and prevent the return of Palestine refugees to their homeland,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Since 1949, UNRWA has provided vital assistance to millions of Palestine refugees, and its activities are crucial for regional stability,” it recalled, underlining: “It is the legal and moral obligation of the international community to take a strong stance against attempts to ban UNRWA, which was established by a UN General Assembly resolution.”
“As the Chair of the Working Group on the Financing of UNRWA, Türkiye will continue to provide political and financial support to the Agency,” the ministry emphasized.
Israel has accused UNRWA employees of complicity in the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border incursion by Hamas, alleging that the agency’s educational programs “promote terrorism and hatred.”
Earlier, the Israeli Knesset passed a law banning UNRWA from operating in the country, which could affect its work in Gaza.
“The Knesset plenum approved Monday evening in its second and third readings a law to cut official ties with and halt the activity of UNRWA, some of whose operators are suspected of participating in the massacres (by the Palestinian group Hamas) on Oct. 7 (last year),” said a report by Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily.
The vote saw 92 out of 120 Knesset members in favor of the ban, with 10 opposed.
UNRWA, headquartered in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, denies the accusations and asserts that it remains neutral, solely focusing on supporting refugees.
The agency was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1949, with a mandate to provide assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees.
The Israeli army has continued a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border incursion by Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Over 43,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 101,100 others injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
