JERUSALEM: As a law banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating on Israeli territory is set to take effect, the future of the vital services it offers is shrouded in uncertainty.
Israeli politicians have accused UNRWA of being linked to Palestinian militants, and in October voted to ban it. The order will come into force at the end of January.
Lawmakers have celebrated the legislation as a political victory, but it has raised questions about what would replace the work of the crucial aid agency.
UNRWA operates across the Middle East, particularly in Palestinian refugee camps.
The areas that would likely be affected by the Israeli ban are the Palestinian territories — the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA provides education, sanitation and health services, and has been the main agency coordinating aid during the Gaza war.
The legislation bans Israeli officials from working with UNRWA and outlaws its activities “on Israeli territory,” which under Israeli law would include east Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967.
UNRWA has a large compound in east Jerusalem and works in the Shuafat refugee camp there.
According to Jonathan Fowler, a spokesman for the agency, 750 children attend UNRWA schools in east Jerusalem, while it conducts 8,000 medical consultations each year for patients who have no access to other options.
In the Gaza Strip, devastated by more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, the agency employs 13,000 people and coordinates the humanitarian response for other organizations, which means it is regularly in contact with the Israeli authorities.
In the West Bank, UNRWA provides services for hundreds of thousands of people living in refugee camps.
To operate in the territory, the agency must coordinate with an Israeli defense ministry agency.
Under the Israeli law, UNRWA must cease its operations in east Jerusalem and vacate all its buildings by January 30, Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon wrote in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday.
Apart from that letter, “no one knows what is going to happen,” said Fowler.
“We will continue everything we can while awaiting further details. We are not giving up.”
Emphasising the uncertainty that surrounds the agency, Fowler said it wasn’t clear whether UNRWA staff passing through Israeli checkpoints across the West Bank could “be considered contact with the Israeli authorities” and therefore banned.
He said that during Israeli military raids, UNRWA staff have maintained contact with Israeli officials to protect the people it serves, especially children in refugee camps.
“If we lose that contact, that would be a big problem,” he said. “It is very dangerous.”
In the Gaza Strip, UNRWA “provides logistical support” for other UN agencies and remains “the backbone of UN operations on the ground,” said Muhannad Hadi, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the Middle East, recently returned from Gaza.
Replacing UNRWA, therefore, is seen as impossible, even though beneficiaries and NGOs have been searching for alternatives for weeks.
Human rights group Adalah petitioned the Israeli supreme court on January 15, in the name of 10 Palestinian refugees, arguing that the legislation banning UNRWA “violates fundamental human rights and Israel’s obligations under international law.”
Fowler said that “under international law, it is incumbent on an occupying power to ensure the well-being... of an occupied population.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent on Thursday said it “absolutely” rejected the idea of replacing UNRWA “despite ongoing attempts by various parties” to convince it to take on the UN agency’s work or receive funds that currently go to the agency.
It said “the most recent of these attempts was by the Israeli health ministry which sought to hand over UNRWA’s Bab Al-Zawiya clinic in Jerusalem to the (Red Crescent) in exchange for financial support — a proposal that the Society categorically rejected.”
Some have suggested that UNRWA’s mission be taken over by foreign governments or other UN agencies.
Some UN staff, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that their organizations lacked both the human and material resources to replace UNRWA.
Other UN agencies “don’t have the capacity, on the ground, to do the distribution like we do,” said Fowler.
COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry agency overseeing civilian affairs in Palestinian territories, has repeatedly said that it works with other organizations, UN agencies and NGOs to organize the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip.
What to know about Israel’s ban on UN agency for Palestinians
https://arab.news/pbm6z
What to know about Israel’s ban on UN agency for Palestinians
- Replacing UNRWA, therefore, is seen as impossible, even though beneficiaries and NGOs have been searching for alternatives for weeks
Thousands remain displaced in Jenin as Israeli military campaign continues for 84th day
- 6,000 people remain displaced within Jenin city, while 3,200 have sought refuge in the dormitories of the Arab American University
- Discussions with the Palestinian Authority are ongoing to provide mobile homes for displaced residents
LONDON: Israeli forces have continued operations in Jenin and its refugee camp for the 84th day, with homes being bulldozed and burned while some have been converted into military positions.
On Monday morning, Israeli forces detained two Palestinians from the village of Yamoun, located west of Jenin, after storming the town and conducting raids on homes, WAFA news agency reported.
Israeli forces deployed infantry units around Al-Amal Hospital and Al-Rabi Building on Al-Mahta Street, near the Jenin refugee camp, conducting raids in the area, WAFA added.
Jenin Governor Kamal Abu Al-Rub said 21,000 people remain displaced as a result of the Israeli military campaign, with 6,000 residents sheltering within Jenin city. At the same time, 3,200 people sought refuge in the dormitories of the Arab American University, and 4,181 individuals found shelter in Burqin village. Abu Al-Rub said discussions with the Palestinian Authority are ongoing to provide mobile homes for the displaced residents in Jenin.
Over the weekend, Israeli forces sent reinforcements and armored vehicles into Jenin and its refugee camp, including D10 bulldozers and infantry. Israeli forces conduct military training near the Jalameh checkpoint, north of Jenin, and occasionally fire live ammunition toward the deserted Jenin camp, WAFA reported.
Macron urges ‘reform’ of Palestinian Authority to run Gaza without Hamas
- France is among European nations to have backed a plan for Gaza to return to the control of the Ramallah-based authority after nearly two decades of Hamas rule
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron called Monday for “reform” of the Palestinian Authority as part of a plan that would see the West Bank-based body govern a post-war Gaza without Hamas.
France is among European nations to have backed a plan for Gaza to return to the control of the Ramallah-based authority after nearly two decades of Hamas rule.
“It is essential to set a framework for the day after: disarm and sideline Hamas, define credible governance and reform the Palestinian Authority,” Macron said on X after a phone call with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas.
“This should allow progress toward a two-state political solution, with a view to the peace conference in June, in the service of peace and security for all.”
Macron said last week that France could take the unprecedented step of recognizing a Palestinian state during a United Nations conference in New York in June, sparking condemnation from Israel.
Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it seized control from the Palestinian Authority after being blocked from exercising real power despite winning a parliamentary election the previous year.
Both France and the United States under Joe Biden have pressed for the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, to root out corruption and bring in new faces in the hope it could take charge of Gaza.
The Ramallah-based administration, led by 89-year-old Abbas, has been hamstrung by Israel’s decades-old occupation of the West Bank and the Palestinian president’s own unpopularity.
Egyptian, Qatari leaders discuss Gaza, economic partnerships
- Countries agreed to package of direct investments worth up to $7.5bn
- El-Sisi, Sheikh Tamim said Palestinian reconciliation essential to achieving national unity
LONDON: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi discussed the reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip and economic partnerships with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
El-Sisi is on a two-day state visit to Qatar and is scheduled to visit Kuwait as part of a Gulf tour, the Middle East News Agency reported.
Qatar and Egypt agreed to a package of direct investments worth up to $7.5 billion, aiming to strengthen and support sustainable economic development for both countries, MENA agency added.
During their meeting in Doha on Monday, El-Sisi and Sheikh Tamim discussed the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. They expressed strong support for the Palestinian people’s right to establish an independent state based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
They discussed the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, which lies in ruins after a year and a half of Israeli bombardment. The two leaders said that Palestinian reconciliation is essential to achieving national unity among factions to lead state institutions, MENA agency added.
Turkiye seeks growing influence in Africa
- Ivory Coast is keen to work with Turkiye in all sectors, including communications, trade, security and education
- Turkiye has signed defense agreements with Somalia, Libya, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana
ISTANBUL: Turkiye has long sought to extend its influence in Africa by mediating in conflicts and building military partnerships with countries on the continent.
Those efforts have picked up speed in recent months with diplomatic successes in resolving local conflicts, and as traditional powers such as France and the United States pull back from the continent, according to analysts and diplomats.
An annual diplomacy forum in the southern Mediterranean resort of Antalya on April 11-13 drew many African officials, including the president of Somalia, as part of Ankara’s efforts to consolidate its foothold in Africa.
“Today African countries are looking for alternatives, and Turkiye represents one of those options, so it has resonated well in Africa,” Professor Eghosa Osaghae, director general of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, who attended the forum, told AFP.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has boosted his international standing after backing rebels who overthrew Syrian ruler Bashar Assad and brokering a key Horn of Africa peace deal between Somalia and Ethiopia.
We have relations with France that we are very proud of. But France doesn’t prevent us from having other partnerships
Kacou Leon Adom, Ivory Coast’s foreign minister
Ankara, which also hosted two rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine at the start of the war, has often said it is ready to support any initiative leading to peace between its two Black Sea neighbors.
The Antalya forum was also attended by Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha.
For Osaghae, whether Turkiye can fill the vacuum in Africa left by France, which has seen many of its former colonies turn away from it in recent years, would “depend a great deal on how attractive Turkiye’s offers to African states will be.”
Speaking to AFP on the sidelines of the forum in Antalya, Ivory Coast’s foreign minister, Kacou Leon Adom, said: “We have relations with France that we are very proud of. But France doesn’t prevent us from having other partnerships.”
The west African nation is keen to work with Turkiye in all sectors, including communications, trade, security, education, or training, he said.
“All of that interests us. And from this perspective, Turkiye is making us offers, and we will consider them.”
Security challenges
Many African countries are faced with challenges to their security, with groups such as Somalia-based Al-Shabab, Boko Haram from Nigeria and the Lord’s Resistance Army, which originated in Uganda, wreaking havoc.
“If it is possible for Turkiye to give assistance in these areas, why not?” Osaghae said.
“The good thing is that many African countries already have military cooperation with Turkiye. And that can be the building block for Turkish influence.”
Turkiye has signed defense agreements with a number of states spanning the breadth of the continent, including Somalia, Libya, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana.
Those agreements have opened up contracts for Turkiye’s defense industry, notably for its reputedly reliable and inexpensive drones.
According to Turkish diplomat Alp Ay, Turkiye offers dialogue — he noted its success in getting Somalia and Ethiopia to end a bitter dispute that had sparked fears of conflict in the restive Horn of Africa.
“We are trying to ensure that Africa can find its own solutions to African problems,” said Ay, who works as Ankara’s special representative in negotiations between Somalia and the breakaway Somaliland region.
The good thing is that many African countries already have military cooperation with Turkiye. And that can be the building block for Turkish influence
Eghosa Osaghae, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs
Tension mounted last year after Ethiopia struck a deal with Somaliland — which unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991 in a move not recognized by Mogadishu — to gain access to the sea.
But Ethiopia and Somalia announced a full restoration of diplomatic ties following a December deal mediated by Turkiye.
Ay said the responsibility from now on would be on both sides to uphold the deal but Turkiye would continue to play its facilitator role. “We are hopeful.”
A senior Somali diplomat likewise said Turkiye played “a very assistive role in bringing the two countries together to resolve this issue.”
In a sign of Ankara’s growing influence, Erdogan met his Somali counterpart, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, on Saturday in Antalya.
“I think Turkiye is playing a key role in Somalia,” the Somali diplomat said.
“And it is a positive role. Turkiye is not only involved in security, it is also involved in other developmental projects in Somalia.”
Nigerian political scientist Osaghae said because there are many conflicts in the region, “Africa desperately needs mediators that are not only credible but are capable of doing the kinds of things that Turkish experience suggests.”
Kurdistan regional government commemorates 37th anniversary of Anfal genocide
- The event paid tribute to the tens of thousands of Kurds who were systematically targeted and killed by the former Iraqi regime during the 1988 Anfal campaign
DUBAI: The Kurdistan Regional Government held a ceremony to mark the 37th anniversary of the Anfal genocide, Iraq state news reported on Monday.
Organized by the Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, the event paid tribute to the tens of thousands of Kurds who were systematically targeted and killed by the former Iraqi regime during the 1988 Anfal campaign.
Named after the eighth sura of the Qur’an, “Anfal” became a codename for a brutal military operation led by Saddam Hussein’s cousin, Ali Hassan Al-Majid — infamously known as “Chemical Ali.”
Over the course of several months, Iraqi forces conducted mass executions, used chemical weapons, and destroyed more than 2,000 Kurdish villages. Entire families were arrested, displaced, or disappeared, with many perishing due to disease, malnutrition, or exposure after being forcibly relocated.
Kurdish officials called for continued recognition of the Anfal as an act of genocide and reaffirmed their commitment to preserving its memory for future generations.
