Israel wants to end refugee status of millions of Palestinians, UNRWA chief claims

Philippe Lazzarini says that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is there because 'a political solution does not exist'

A Palestinian woman and her children outside the walls of the UNRWA elementary school in 2014. Heidi Levine for The National

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Israel's demands to close UNRWA are not motivated by humanitarian concerns but to end the refugee status of millions of Palestinians, the head of the UN agency warned on Wednesday.

“They seek to change the long-standing political parameters for peace in the occupied Palestinian territory,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, told a ministerial-level meeting of the Security Council in New York.

“The government of Israel seeks to end the agency’s activities.”

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi echoed Mr Lazzarini's comments and pointed out that the “Israeli witch hunt of the agency...started long before the allegations against the 12 members of its staff were made. The agency has been the target of a political assassination campaign for years".

Israel's attack on the UNRWA, Mr Safadi added, is meant to “kill the Palestinians' refugee rights, to kill the Palestinian issue and to kill the discussion that there is an occupation that is illegal, that is inhumane, that must end”.

Israel's UN envoy Gilad Erdan said that, in practice, the UNRWA is creating a sea of Palestinian refugees, millions of them “indoctrinated” to believe that Israel belongs to them.

“And the end goal is to use these so-called refugees and their libellous right of return, a right that doesn't exist, to flood Israel and destroy the Jewish state,” Mr Erdan said.

“UNRWA is the world's biggest advocate for a one-state solution, a Palestinian state from the river to the sea... and Israel cannot and will not allow UNRWA to continue in Gaza as it did in the past," he argued.

UNRWA was created in 1949 by the UN General Assembly to help Palestinian refugees following a war surrounding the founding of Israel, when 700,000 Palestinians were displaced. Many fled to Gaza.

Mr Lazzarini told the council that Israel has banned the UN agency from delivering aid to northern Gaza.

“Our staff are barred from co-ordination meetings between Israel and humanitarian actors,” he explained.

Latest from the Israel-Gaza war – in pictures

Displaced Palestinians hold a white flag as they pass an Israeli tank position while fleeing the Hamad Town district of Khan Younis. Bloomberg

A Palestinian woman cuts material to be used for sewing nappies at a workshop in Rafah. AFP

Smoke rises following an explosion in Gaza, as seen from southern Israel. AP

Parachutes carrying relief for Palestinians drop from an Egyptian Air Force cargo plane over central Gaza. Bloomberg

A Palestinian boy who is suffering from malnutrition is treated at a healthcare centre amid widespread hunger. Reuters

Palestinian children attend an English class in the library of the school housing displaced people in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

An UNRWA-run school housing displaced Palestinians in Rafah. AFP

Palestinians search for bodies and survivors in the rubble of a residential building destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah. AP

A wounded Palestinian man who lost his wife and daughter walks past a neighbours' house destroyed by Israeli bombing in Rafah. AFP

An injured man is rescued from the rubble after an Israeli air strike on the Rafah camp in Gaza. EPA

Palestinians walk amid the rubble of houses destroyed by the Israeli bombardment of Gaza city. AFP

Aid is dropped into Gaza from US military aircraft. Reuters

Palestinians gather at air lorries in Gaza. More than 100 were killed when Israeli troops opened fire. AP

The sun sets behind destroyed buildings in Gaza. AFP

A Palestinian man enters a heavily damaged house following an Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

A wounded Palestinian is assisted at the site of an Israeli strike in Deir Al Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. Reuters

Palestinians gather in the hope of getting bags of flour carried by air lorries near an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza city, as the enclave's residents face crisis levels of hunger. Reuters

Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues in Gaza. Reuters

A displaced Palestinian child holds a crying baby in a camp in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

He also reported that “UNRWA premises and staff have been targeted since the beginning of the war”.

According to the latest UNRWA report released on Tuesday, 178 employees have been killed during the war in Gaza and 163 centres in the enclave have been damaged, with only nine of 24 of the agency's healthcare centres still operational.

The report also said staff members had reported being subjected to ill-treatment including beatings, threats of rape and electrocution, and were forced to strip naked.

The Israeli military has said it acts according to national and international law and those it arrests are given access to food, water, medication and proper clothing.

In January, Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of involvement in the October 7 attacks, although evidence supporting these claims has not yet been publicly provided.

Guyana’s UN ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett expressed concern over the continuing campaign to discredit and dismantle the UNRWA.

“It is simply unacceptable to put forward accusations without providing credible supporting evidence,” Ms Rodrigues-Birkett said.

After the January allegations, the UNRWA dismissed the employees implicated and the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services launched an investigation.

The UN also commissioned an independent review led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna to assess how the UNRWA adheres to principles of neutrality.

The group is expected to present its findings on April 20.

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