NEW YORK, (PIC)
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned the Israeli claims against UNRWA as false and intolerable.
Speaking to Al Jazeera satellite channel, Guterres called on the US administration to take a stronger position to push Israel to stop its war on the Gaza Strip.
Guterres expressed his belief that several countries resumed their support for UNRWA after they had temporarily withheld funding, hailing all the efforts that were made to save the agency to restore its international credibility.
The UN chief stressed that “UNRWA remains the backbone of humanitarian support to the people of Gaza.”
He also criticized the UN Security Council’s failure to put an end to Israel’s war on Gaza, saying its failure in this regard damaged its credibility as a whole.
He called for necessarily pressuring the US to force Israel to stop its war on Gaza and recognize the two-state solution.
“It is important to put pressure on the United States in order to make sure that the United States puts pressure on Israel — as they are supporting Israel — put pressure on Israel to stop the war and at the same time to recognize that the two-state solution must not be undermined.”
“One of the most concerning things we have at the present moment is to see the systematic policy of many in the Israeli government that try to undermine the two-state solution, exactly by evictions, settlements, grabbing land and other actions in the West Bank, which are, of course, totally against international law,” he added.
“There is an opinion of the International Court of Justice. The opinion is clear: This is an occupation, and the occupation is not legal,” he underlined.
