Guterres called for the protection of UNRWA

While the Zionist regime’s efforts to destroy UNRWA continue in various ways, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “My request to all [countries] is this; Protect UNRWA, its staff and mandates. Let me be clear that there is no alternative to UNRWA”.

According to Reuters, Guterres also announced the extensive crimes committed by the Zionist regime against the agency’s staff and said: “UNRWA staff have been the target of increasing violent protests and a hostile fake news campaign. Some have been detained and tortured by the security forces (regime) of Israel. He added that in the West Bank, the presence and movement of UNRWA employees has been severely restricted by the Israeli regime. 

UNRWA, or the Palestinian Refugee Agency, is one of the United Nations agencies that provides educational, health and other humanitarian assistance services to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Especially since the beginning of the Gaza war, the Zionist regime has been trying to destroy this agency in any way. The Foreign Affairs and Security Committee of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) earlier this week approved a bill declaring UNRWA as a “terrorist organization”. 

The regime also claimed earlier that UNRWA staff were involved in the Al-Aqsa storm operation on October 7. This claim caused many countries to stop their financial aid to UNRWA. The mentioned countries later resumed their financial aid due to the lack of evidence on this claim.

Translator: Zahra Najafi