UNRWA speech at the fourth meeting of the international coalition to implement a two -state solution

Philip Lazarini, UNRWA Commissioner -General, said at the fourth meeting of the International Alliance to implement a two -state solution, directing his speech to attendance and the world, & quot; Foreign Minister Ambassador Badr Abdel -Ati, the esteemed presence, is currently being applied by Israeli legislation that targets UNRWA operations in the occupied Palestinian territory. p>

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In our last meeting, we discussed the possible effects of this legislation on UNRWA’s work in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, and the agency is now facing major operational challenges.

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UNRWA was forced to evacuate the complex of its offices in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which is still a building for the United Nations and has protection under international law, and international employees were actually expelled from the occupied West Bank.

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The courage and commitment of our Palestinian employees allowed UNRWA schools and health clinics to remain open, and to provide basic services to Palestine refugees.

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In East Jerusalem, the average attendance rates in our schools are 80 percent and hundreds of people visit our health centers daily.

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UNRWA operations in Gaza are also continuing, and there is a basic team of international employees, but Israel no longer facilitates their entry and their exit through the Karam Abu Salem crossing.

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It is not clear to what extent our ability to work will be exposed to more restrictions due to the ban on communication between UNRWA representatives and Israeli officials.

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What is clear is that the agency will remain and implement its mandate until it is prevented from doing this, and we will do so despite the great risks to which our employees are exposed to an increasingly hostile work environment.

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The ceasefire constitutes a welcome truce from the horrors of the war in Gaza, and we are comfortable with the return of the hostages and Palestinian prisoners to their families.

We also welcome the noticeable improvement in the flow of humanitarian aid.

UNRWA continues to play a decisive role in addressing the enormous needs of the exhausted Gaza residents.

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Since the ceasefire started, we have distributed food aid to more than 1.5 million people.

We also conduct about 17 thousand medical consultations every day, as we expanded our health services, including in Gaza City and northern Gaza.

In January, we launched an online educational platform, actually recorded more than 260,000 children – half of them are girls.

Reducing UNRWA now – when the needs are very high, confidence in the international community is very low & ndash; It would meet the opposite results.

It would also hinder the process of recovering Gaza and political transition plans.

And continued, the transition from the ceasefire to & quot; the next day & quot; It will be long and painful.

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And UNRWA’s ability to provide similar services to public services to an entire society can only be replaced by a complete state.

The clear option is as follows:

– We can allow UNRWA to collapse due to Knesset’s legislation and suspend funding by the main donors.

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As the agency’s collapse would create a vacuum in the occupied Palestinian land and have repercussions in neighboring countries.

This constitutes a threat to peace and stability in the region and abroad.

– Instead, we can allow UNRWA to gradually end its mandate in the framework of a political process such as those supported by the international coalition.

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The agency will gradually convert its public services into empowered and ready Palestinian institutions, this is the future that we prepare for.

Today, you will listen to my colleagues how the basic services of UNRWA, its employees and their assets can be delivered in the context of a political process.

He said, that the development of the capabilities of Palestinian employees and institutions will be the cornerstone of our approach, and that the transmission of educational services will take several years.

In addition to the gradual delivery of schools and employees, UNRWA will train teachers to use UNRWA materials on human rights, tolerance, and dispute resolution.

We will also provide access to self -learning materials for emergency situations and infrastructure for information technology to facilitate digital education.

UNRWA is the largest presenter of primary health care in Gaza, and the second largest health care presenter in the West Bank.

And if our network of health centers and highly trained workforce makes UNRWA a vital partner in any transitional process.

The delivery of our health services will focus on developing the capabilities of Palestinian institutions, including the management of non -infectious diseases, family medicine, and digital health systems.

Our efforts will be guided by national health priorities and the specific needs of Palestinian society.

Our priority will ensure the continuity of care for millions of patients throughout the occupied Palestinian land.

And he continued, the success of our efforts completely depends on the strength of the international community’s commitment to the political path.

This commitment to financing must be supported to maintain the agency’s operations until the completion of the transfer of its services to Palestinian institutions.

UNRWA represents the tremendous assets that will ensure an applicable political transition that can provide an inclusive answer to the question of Palestine.

Merging the agency into the political process would help protect Palestine refugees and maintain the standards of peace in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The window for the opportunity to maintain UNRWA operations is closed, and there is an urgent need for your decisive intervention.

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