“Israeli extremists” set fire to open-air areas of the compound, wrote Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the Palestinian refugee aid agency.
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UNRWA says it closed its East Jerusalem offices after “Israeli extremists” have “set fire” to open-air areas of the compound, announced Thursday, May 9, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini. “Israelis set fire to the perimeter of the HQ twice”while “personnel from UNRWA and other UN agencies were present” inside, the official wrote. The latter specifies having “took the decision to close the enclosure until adequate security was re-established”. He denounced a “second heinous incident in less than a week”committed according to him by “extremists” and in which “the lives of UN employees were put in serious danger”.
The aid agency for Palestinian refugees is the subject of strong criticism from Israel but also from American elected officials who accuse it of being too close or even colluding with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Israel notably accused the UNWRA of using “more than 400 terrorists” in the Gaza Strip and also for letting the Islamist movement hide weapons in its schools and other buildings that it operates on the Palestinian territory.
Accusations rejected outright by the agency, which is the backbone of the organization of humanitarian aid to the inhabitants of Gaza. Last week, a report by an independent panel led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna concluded that while UNRWA lacked “neutrality” in the Gaza Strip, Israel had not yet provided “evidence” alleged links of certain members with “terrorist organizations” like Hamas.
The fact remains that UNRWA is “irreplaceable and indispensable” to the Palestinians, however, underlined this group, which had been charged with this evaluation mission by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
