Speakers in Fourth Committee Call Israel’s Charges of UNRWA’s Collusion Baseless Fallacies About an Agency Offering ‘Food on the Table’, ‘a Glimmer of Hope’
More than 100 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are involved in terrorism, some holding simultaneous positions within Hamas and the Agency, Israel’s delegate told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today while representatives of States in the region and beyond expressed concern about that country’s systematic disinformation campaign against the Agency.
It was an UNRWA social worker who kidnapped Jonathan Samerano from Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel’s delegate said, as she recalled how three years ago in the Fourth Committee, she had urged UNRWA to be accountable for the hateful indoctrination of children in its classrooms. Her country had cautioned about “rockets and terror tunnels found underneath UNRWA schools in Gaza” and “textbooks calling Jews Satan’s helpers”. However, its warnings went unheeded. The 7 October events show a deep infiltration of the Agency, with employees taking part in the “abhorrent” acts of violence.
Over the years, Israel has presented evidence that some UNRWA teachers were terrorists, some aid workers were murderers and certain classrooms were used as weapons storage sites, she said. These neutrality breaches were never investigated. Accusing UNRWA schools of “spreading anti-Semitic and jihadist ideologies” with “mathematical lessons centered on counting murders and suicide bombers”, she questioned UNRWA’s claims of school curriculum promoting gender equality, respect and tolerance. Calling for accountability, she said her country “will not accept that aid flows through an organization complicit in terror”.
The representative of Jordan urged delegates to reject Israel’s “extremist comments” and “baseless fallacies” against the Agency. Dismissing Israel’s “lies and misleading allegations” against UNRWA, he cited the independent review, which affirmed UNRWA’s high level of neutrality. UNRWA is “food on the table”, health services, education and an investment in the region’s stability, security and future, he said. The “illegitimate” Israeli Knesset laws would “lift the sanctity from UNRWA and stop its activities” and is part of an Israeli illegal campaign to liquidate Palestinians, he said.
Brazil’s delegate also denounced the disinformation campaign and attacks against UNRWA and firmly condemned the Knesset's decision to pass laws targeting the Agency. They violate the UN Charter, the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the UN, international humanitarian law and relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, he said, adding that they also disregard the request by the International Court of Justice for Israel to facilitate humanitarian access for Gazans.
Guyana’s delegate cited the UNRWA Commissioner-General’s report presented yesterday, noting: “by the end of 2023, Israeli officials started to increasingly criticize, discredit and undermine UNRWA publicly, often using broad and unsubstantiated allegations”. The Knesset legislation prohibiting UNRWA operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, “risks setting an extremely dangerous precedent for relations between the UN and its Member States if not legally contested,” she said, adding that UNRWA continues to exist because of lack of progress on the two-State solution.
Several delegates echoed that point, including the representative of Türkiye who said that the killing of UNRWA staff, the defamation campaign and the recent anti-UNRWA legislation are attempts by Israel, not only to dismantle a vital humanitarian organization, but also to undermine prospects for a two-State solution and obstruct the rightful return of Palestine refugees to their homeland. It is “unacceptable for a UN agency to be subjected to such arbitrary and politically motivated actions”, she added.
Syria’s delegate said the only substitute for UNRWA is a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital. Everyone can see the genocide Israel is perpetrating, he said, noting that 6 million Palestinians have been ousted from their lands since 1949. His country has hosted Palestinian refugees and will continue to do so until they can return, treating them on an equal footing with Syrian citizens. Condemning Israel’s hostile campaign against UNRWA, including recent legislative and administrative measures, he said that depriving 600,000 children in the Gaza strip of education is unacceptable.
The representative of Maldives also expressed regret about “the appalling attempts to discredit the Agency, unjustly branding it as a terrorist organization”. UNRWA was never meant to operate for this long, he said, adding that its protracted mandate “is a reflection of our collective failures in resolving this ongoing genocide”. He drew attention to a nationwide telethon held in his country in June in solidarity with the people of Palestine, which raised more than $1.2 million, which has now been donated to UNRWA. “The success of our telethon demonstrates that our public sentiment lies firmly with the Palestinians,” he said.
Countries around the world are supporting UNRWA in its hour of need, delegates told the Committee, drawing attention to its chronic underfunding as well as its current desperate straits. Japan has been at the forefront of providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, that country’s delegate said, noting that it provided approximately $130 million since 7 October last year, including $35 million to the Agency. He also recalled expressing condolences in last year’s meeting on this item for the 89 UNRWA staff who had been killed. “Today, it is heartbreaking that the number has risen to 243,” he said. The Agency is fully committed to further steps to ensure its neutrality including through the full implementation of the Colonna report, he noted.
Germany, described his country as one of UNRWA’s top donors, pledged to work towards the implementation of recommendations of the Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality. UNRWA’s role is indispensable in preventing the collapse of the humanitarian response in Gaza. “At no time in the past 12 months has so little help reached Gaza as is the case in the moment,” he said, voicing grave concern about the adoption of two laws against UNRWA by the Israeli Knesset.
Speakers also remarked on the regional ramifications of UNRWA’s work, with the representative of China noting that UNRWA provides relief to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. For the people of Gaza specifically, the Agency’s humanitarian assistance is the last hope of survival. “If the Agency were to shut down, the lifeline of 2 million people in Gaza will be severed,” he said, expressing concern about how Israel has been systematically, continuously and grossly cracking down on UNRWA.
The representative of the Russian Federation pointed out that “the Agency is doing everything the occupying Power is obligated to do”. The attacks of 7 October 2023 cannot be justified, nor can the ghastly collective punishment of the Palestinian people, he said. Israel launched a full-blown disinformation campaign against UNRWA to force donors to withdraw financial support to the Agency but was unable to provide any proof that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack. All the donors except the United States have now resumed funding for UNRWA, he noted, pointing to that country’s supply of deadly weapons to Israel. West Jerusalem and Washington share the responsibility for the tragic events on Palestinian territory and the destabilization of the Middle East, he said, adding that the Security Council must vote for an immediate ceasefire.
The representative of Canada, also condemning Israel’s adoption of legislation that threatens to prevent UNRWA from working in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, highlighted UNRWA’s unique and irreplaceable role. UNRWA’s operational capacity is unmatched, with a workforce exceeding 5,000 personnel delivering services directly on the ground, and whose deep local knowledge, logistical expertise and experience in managing security risks have been developed over decades. “It remains the only organization that has the capacity to deliver aid on the scale necessary to address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” he emphasized.
Along similar lines, South Africa’s delegate noted that the Agency’s experience is vast and its roots run deep. His country recently contributed 50 million rands to the Agency, he said, adding that this is in addition to other ongoing humanitarian assistance provided in partnership with civil society. Citing the words of the great Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, he said: “A person can only be born in one place. However, he may die several times elsewhere: in the exiles and prisons, and in a homeland transformed by the occupation and oppression into a nightmare”.
“The goal of Israel, clearly, is to get rid of the Palestinian people,” Bolivia’s delegate said, describing the information provided in the session as harrowing. Palestinians in Gaza are living through collective punishment. “They're living through hell,” he added. UNRWA is a “glimmer of hope” for those who are experiencing these very severe circumstances. The living conditions for the Palestinian refugees are getting worse every day as a result of the Israeli occupation, the blockade on Gaza and the restrictions placed on the arrival of humanitarian aid. There has to be predictable and sustained funding provided to UNWRA. “This is a duty that the international community has,” he stressed.
Speaking in exercise of the right of reply were the representatives of Saudi Arabia, Israel, Syria and Jordan as well as the observer for the State of Palestine.