Responding to the dramatic growth, head of the UN company for Palestine refugees Philippe Lazzarini described it as an “unprecedented assault” towards the UN, whose premises are protected underneath worldwide legislation.
The transfer represents “a brand new degree of open and deliberate defiance of worldwide legislation, together with of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel”, the UNRWA Commissioner-Basic mentioned on X.
Condemnation from Guterres
Secretary-Basic António Guterres condemned the demolition “in the strongest phrases”.
The UN chief has repeatedly and unequivocally said that the compound stays UN premises and is “inviolable and immune from any type of interference.”
“The Secretary-Basic views as wholly unacceptable the continued escalatory actions towards UNRWA,” the assertion from his workplace continued.
Mr. Guterres known as on Israel to halt the demolition and restore the compound to the UN “directly”.
Human rights chief’s ‘outrage’
Echoing these considerations, UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed his “outrage” on the incident, which marks a pointy escalation of tensions between the Israeli authorities and UNRWA.
“It compounds what we’ve been seeing for some time; attacking help teams and UN actors who’re attempting to assist,” mentioned Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Excessive Commissioner.
On 14 January, Israeli forces entered an UNRWA well being centre in East Jerusalem and ordered it to shut. On the time of the incident, the company mentioned its staff have been “terrified”. Within the coming weeks, water and energy provides to UNRWA amenities are scheduled to be reduce, together with to buildings used for well being care and schooling.
“It is a direct outcome of laws handed by the Israeli parliament in December, which stepped up current anti-UNRWA legal guidelines adopted in 2024,” Mr. Lazzarini mentioned.
Beforehand, UNRWA premises have been focused by arsonists amid a “large-scale disinformation marketing campaign” towards it by Israel, the company’s Commissioner-Basic maintained.
This was regardless of a ruling final October by the UN’s high courtroom, the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice, which restated that Israel was obliged “to facilitate UNRWA’s operations, not hinder or stop them. The courtroom additionally pressured that Israel has no jurisdiction over East Jerusalem,” Mr. Lazzarini famous.
“What occurs at present to UNRWA will occur tomorrow to every other worldwide organisation or diplomatic mission, whether or not in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or wherever around the globe,” he continued. “Worldwide legislation has come underneath rising assault for too lengthy and is risking irrelevancy in the absence of response by Member States.”
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