Panic, Israel Ultimatum UNRWA To Leave Jerusalem

JAKARTA - The agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza was asked to leave before January 30 from Jerusalem. Israel accused 13,000 UNRWA employees of the deadly attack on October 7, 2023 by Hamas.

This was said by the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Danny Danon on Friday (24/1).

Danon said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that UNRWA had suspended operations in Israel and East Jerusalem, an area Israel annexed after the 1967 Six-Day War.

"UNRWA must stop its operations in Jerusalem and evacuate all of its offices in the city by no later than January 30, 2025."

Israel accuses UNRWA of being the backbone of humanitarian operations for Palestinians. "UNRWA provides assistance to about six million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria".

Although East Jerusalem has long been an administrative center for the agency, UNRWA also manages schools and health clinics in the region.

Not only that, but Israel has also passed a law prohibiting contact between Israeli officials and UNRWA, although Israeli parliament has technically not banned the agency from operating in Gaza or the West Bank.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned that efforts to stop the agency's operations "can thwart the Gaza ceasefire, again destroying the hopes of people who have suffered indefinitely."

"UNRWA's work must continue in Gaza and throughout the occupied Palestinian territories," he said on social media platform X on Friday night.