Receiving Independent Review Results, UN Secretary General Calls On All Parties To Support UNRWA

Illustration of UNRWA facilities affected by Israeli attacks on Gaza. (Twitter/@UNRWA)

JAKARTA - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has received recommendations from an independent review of the ability of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations of Israeli abuses, a spokesman said on Monday.

"He has agreed with Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini that UNRWA, with the support of the Secretary-General, will make an action plan to implement these recommendations," UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

"In the future, the Secretary-General urges all stakeholders to actively support UNRWA, because this agency is a lifeline for Palestinian refugees in the region," he continued.

According to The Guardian, which received an unpublished panel review, the review of UNRWA was "irreplaceable and indispensable" for Palestinians in Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, said although stronger protection mechanisms could be applied to ensure neutrality, the UN agency already had a significant screening process to "ensure compliance with humanitarian principles."

The plan, the results of a review led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colona, was released on Monday.

This independent review follows accusations by Israel that at least 12 UN agency employees for Palestinian refugees were directly involved in the atrocities of October 7 committed by Hamas, another 30 assisting or facilitating the crime and as many as 12 percent of the organization's staff affiliated with terror organizations.