UNRWA work and mandate in ‘jeopardy’, Guterres warns

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) continues to operate under “extraordinary pressure”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday. 

Speaking at the annual ministerial meeting on the agency's work during High-Level Week in New York, the UN chief maintained that nearly 400 members of UNRWA’s workforce in Gaza have been killed, with hundreds of premises in the Occupied Palestinian Territory made “inaccessible, severely damaged, or utterly destroyed”.

“These actions are wholly unacceptable and inconsistent with Israel’s obligations under international law, including the UN Charter,” he said. 

In a highly challenging environment, he said, UNRWA provides essential public services to Palestinians, however, its work and entire mandate from the General Assembly is now in “jeopardy”. 

Nearly two years ago, the Israeli Knesset passed legislation banning the UN agency from operating on Israeli territory – which included East Jerusalem – and cut off all cooperation between Israeli officials and UNRWA.

The Israeli Government seized and began demolition of UNRWA’s main compound in Jerusalem last January. The UN and multiple States maintain the punitive laws passed by parliament breach Israel’s obligations under the UN Charter and Security Council resolution 2730 on protection of humanitarian personnel. 

Campaign against the agency

According to the UN chief, the agency has been excluded from coordination meetings with Israeli authorities over humanitarian operations in Gaza and elsewhere, while staff visas are no longer being granted by Israel and personnel have been subject to intimidation. 

He added that UNRWA continues to face a severe financial crisis, “with a cash shortfall of $100 million”, putting operations at risk and threatening the welfare of millions of Palestinian refugees. 

Mr. Guterres called on Member States to take immediate action as UNRWA’s capacity to act was “seriously imperiled” and regional stability was at “stake”. 

‘Conditions remain intolerable’ 

He highlighted that continued Israeli attacks continue to kill an average of four people per day, “a quarter of them children”, while international law is being “brazenly violated”. 

“The resumption of assistance since the ceasefire was announced last October has brought some relief – but conditions remain intolerable,” Mr. Guterres said. 

He said settler attacks and efforts to expand settlements in the West Bank have pushed Palestinians to “breaking point” and posed a threat to the two-State solution. 

Amidst the volatility, he said, UNRWA remained a “critical stabilizing presence” and a lifeline for many Palestinian refugees. 

‘Levels unseen’ 

UNRWA’s Commissioner-General ad interim, Christian Saunders, said the agency’s more than 10,000 personnel in Gaza are still assisting 1.7 million people, including some 70,000 medical consultations a week. 

He said displacement in the West Bank was “at levels unseen since 1967”. 

Forty-one of the 50 recommendations of the independent neutrality review into UNRWA operations were fully implemented, the Commissioner-General said, and a “slimmer UNRWA” did not mean a change to its mandate.

The Commissioner-General said 94 per cent of people in Gaza lacked proper shelter and 98 per cent of households lived near environmental hazards such as raw sewage and rubble, with humanitarian partners warning of major gaps as winter approaches.

In occupied East Jerusalem, measures against UNRWA had culminated in the seizure of it headquarters, vocational training centre, schools and health facilities, he said, calling on Member States to advocate for the agency to be given “the space to operate” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in line with its mandate.