Source: Amnesty International –
Reacting to the news that the Israeli parliament has passed a law to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from operating inside Israel, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said:
“This unconscionable law is an outright attack on the rights of Palestinian refugees. It is clearly designed to make it impossible for the agency to operate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by forcing the closure of the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem and ending visas for its staff. It amounts to the criminalization of humanitarian aid and will worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
“UNRWA has played an indispensable role in offering, food, water, medical aid, education and shelter to the nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza who have been forcibly displaced, subjected to an engineered famine, and stand at serious risk of genocide as a result of Israel’s relentless offensive in the last 12 months. This law flies in the face of the International Court of Justice order to Israel to ensure sufficient humanitarian assistance and facilitate basic services.
“UNRWA has been a lifeline for Palestinian refugees in the occupied Gaza Strip and the West Bank and in neighbouring countries throughout the 75 years since its foundation. The plight of the Palestinian people would be even more severe if not for UNRWA’s tireless work over the last three quarters of a century.
“This appalling, inhumane law will only exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians, who have endured unimaginable hardship since the horrific attacks by Hamas and other armed groups in southern Israel one year ago, and whose need for global support is greater than ever. The international community must be quick to condemn it in the strongest possible terms and exert any influence they have on the Israeli government to repeal it.”