Philippe Lazzarini

@unlazzarini · Twitter · 2024-10-09 20:23 UTC

Today, I told the @UN Security Council that now is the time to decide to which extent it will tolerate acts that strike at the heart of multilateralism and compromise international peace and security. After a year of profound loss and suffering, and with no end in sight to the brutal violence engulfing the region, the need for @UNRWA’s services in #Gaza, the occupied #WestBank, & #Lebanon have never been greater. Despite this, the Agency has never been under fiercer attack. Legislation to end our operations is ready for final adoption by the Israeli Knesset, seeking to ban UNRWA’s presence and operations in the territory of Israel and to revoke its privileges and immunities, in violation of international law. If the bills are adopted, the consequences will be severe: -The entire humanitarian response in Gaza - which rest on UNRWA’ infrastructure- may disintegrate. - ⁠In the West Bank, the delivery of education, primary health care to hundred of thousand Palestine Refugees would grind to a halt. -The Knesset legislation violates Israel’s obligations under the UN Charter and international law. The anti-UNRWA legislation, part of a broader campaign to dismantle the Agency, seeks to strip Palestinians from their refugee status, & change – unilaterally – the parameters for a future political solution. If passed, this sets a dangerous precedent not only in the context of the conflict in the occupied Palestinian territory but around the world. A threat to multilateralism worldwide. Read my full remarks here 👇 https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/statement-philippe-lazzarini-commissioner-general-unrwa-united-nations-security-council