UNRWA commissioner: ‘Objective of Israel’s war to get rid of UNRWA’

Commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, announced on Friday that eliminating the agency has almost been an objective of the Israeli war.

According to Reuters, he added that UNRWA will receive clarification regarding its US funding in early 2025.

The agency, its employees and its headquarters have been subjected to repeated Israeli attacks in the West Bank and Gaza. The latest Israeli measure against the agency was the bill passed by the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee in the Knesset on Sunday banning UNRWA’s activities in Israel.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that the committee referred the bill to the Knesset for a vote in the second and third readings. It stipulates the confiscation of all UNRWA funds, properties and real estate in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the transfer of the funds to the compensation fund for those affected by the attacks.

The bill also prohibits the recognition of the diplomatic character, or the special status of UN workers, for anyone who holds a UNRWA worker card.