Arab League Analyzes Israeli Ban on UNRWA
Palestinian victims of the attacks by the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, 2024. X/ @UNRWA_EU
October 31, 2024 Hour: 11:09 am
Israel passed laws aimed at closing UNRWA offices in East Jerusalem and limiting its operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
On Thursday, the 22 member countries of the Arab League held an emergency meeting to coordinate their positions in response to Israel’s decision to close the offices of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
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“The extraordinary meeting will analyze the joint Arab response to the dangerous and illegal laws passed by the Israeli parliament (Knesset), which prohibit UNRWA’s activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem,” the Arab League stated.
Ahead of the emergency meeting, which is taking place in Cairo, Palestine’s representative to the League, Ahmed Abuholy, called on Arab countries “to adopt a unified stance against Israel’s invalid decisions, laws, and procedures.”
He also urged the mobilization of international support to counter and reverse Israel’s decisions, emphasizing that the occupation does not eliminate the refugees’ right to return to their land, as it is a right guaranteed by international law.
On Monday night, the Israeli Parliament passed two laws by an overwhelming majority, aimed at closing UNRWA offices in East Jerusalem—occupied by Israel since 1967—and limiting its operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The decision was met with international rejection. On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council issued a statement signed by all its members —including the United States— calling on Israel to allow UNRWA to continue operating in Israel and the occupied territories.
“This Knesset law will have disastrous consequences… as UNRWA is considered the backbone and a fundamental pillar of aid in the Gaza Strip, which has endured over 390 days of Israeli aggression, resulting in thousands of martyrs and injured,” Abuholy warned.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
