Jordan condemns Israeli Knesset’s bills against UNRWA

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi Sunday condemned draft resolutions in the Israeli Knesset targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the occupied Palestinian territories. Safadi said Knesset's draft resolutions that would target UNRWA's Immunity as a UN agency is a "blatant violation of international law and a deprivation of the Palestinian people of vital rights and services approved by the international community." During a meeting with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, Safadi urged the international community to confront the Israeli draft resolutions and refuse to implement them to protect international law under which UNRWA was formed. Safadi said allowing Israel to target UNRWA means allowing it to continue violating the rights of the Palestinian people and depriving them of their right to food, medicine, education and relief services at a time when it is using starvation as a weapon during Israel's war in Gaza and preve nting UNRWA from fulfilling its role in meeting their needs in occupied Palestinian territories. He said that UNRWA's role is "irreplaceable", warning that Israel's targeting of UNRWA is part of an attempt to "liquidate" the refugee issue, which must be resolved according to international legitimacy resolutions. Safadi and Lazzarini discussed taking political and legal actions to counter the Israeli threat to the agency in cooperation with regional and international partners. Safadi and Lazzarini urged the international community to provide political and financial support to the UN agency that supports millions of Palestinian refugees in the occupied Gaza Strip and the West Bank and the rest of its five areas of operation. Source: Jordan News Agency