GAZA, (PIC)
The issuance of international statements have escalated in condemnation and rejection of UNRWA’s funding suspension by the US and European countries, in a move described as a blatant blackmail and complicity in the ongoing crime of genocide against the people of Gaza.
The head of the Association for Return and Refugees, Kazem Ayesh, told the PIC that the decision indicates a “blatant international complicity in the Israeli occupation’s plans for liquidating the Palestinian cause, especially the refugees’ issue.”
Ayesh stressed that the US and the West are seeking to put pressure on witnesses at the International Court of Justice and to punish international institutions which provided evidence on Israel’s involvement in acts of genocide in Gaza.
For his part, journalist Yasser Al-Zaatara described the campaign against UNRWA by the US and its allies as a despicable campaign. Claiming that a few people out of thousands working in the UN organization were involved in the ranks of resistance is worthless and cannot be a justification for suspending the aid allocated to it, he added.
Journalist Khaled Safi slammed the campaign of incitement against UNRWA in the Western media, while the Iraqi politician and human rights activist, Tariq Al-Hashimi, accused the United States and Western countries of acting hastily based on information not confirmed yet, at a time when 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza are exposed to real famine without having any alternative to UNRWA to provide the aid.
For his part, the former director of Human Rights Watch described Washington’s decision to cut aid to UNRWA as ironic, especially in light of the continued US military support for Israel.
The Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, Dr. Rami Abdo, commented on the suspension of funding for UNRWA by saying that the world is witnessing an absence of logic in favor of brutality and injustice, stressing that UNRWA is being held accountable and punished just because 12 of its 30,000 employees had stood in support for the resistance.
For her part, the independent United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, confirmed in statements on X that the decision of some countries to stop funding for UNRWA represents a collective punishment against the Palestinians.
It is noteworthy that 9 countries have announced the cessation of funding for UNRWA: the United States, Germany, Australia, Canada, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Britain.
