By Suresh Nautiyal
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today (29 October 2024) expressed deep concerns over the adoption by the Knesset (parliament) of Israel of two laws concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which, if implemented, would likely prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as mandated by the UN General Assembly.
UNRWA is the principal means by which essential assistance is supplied to Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. There is no alternative to UNRWA.
According to the information accessed from the UN Information Centre in New Delhi, the implementation of the laws could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is unacceptable.
“I call on Israel to act consistently with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and its other obligations under international law, including under international humanitarian law and those concerning privileges and immunities of the United Nations. National legislation cannot alter those obligations,” said the UN Secretary-General in his statement on the situation, adding that the implementation of these laws would be detrimental for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for peace and security in the region as a whole. As I said before, UNRWA is indispensable.
Earlier, Mr António Guterres, also expressed concern over the plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in North Gaza, where hundreds of people have been killed, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, and more than 60,000 others have been forced to flee yet again, many fearing not being able to return.
The Secretary-General is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving health care, and families lacking food and shelter, amid reports of families being separated and many people detained.
Repeated efforts to deliver humanitarian supplies essential to survive – food, medicine and shelter – continue to be denied by the Israeli authorities, with few exceptions, putting countless lives in peril. The postponement of the final phase of the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza is putting the lives of thousands of children at risk.
The Secretary-General warned that the widespread devastation and deprivation resulting from Israel’s military operations in North Gaza – especially around Jabalya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun – were making the conditions of life untenable for the Palestinian population there. This conflict continues to be waged with little regard for the requirements of international humanitarian law.
