Geneva – The Board of Peace’s announcement of its intention to end the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip is extremely concerning. It signifies a highly serious and unlawful overreach of the UN General Assembly’s mandate, which established UNRWA in 1949, and an effort to weaken the Agency’s international role in representing the ongoing responsibility towards Palestinian refugees. This move could lead to its elimination under the guise of reconstruction and stability efforts.
The Board of Peace announced on its official X account that “UNRWA has no place in the new Gaza” and that they are “turning the page on the complex of perpetual aid dependency and conflict.” This statement overlooks the reality that Gaza residents’ reliance on aid is not a dependency culture but a consequence of occupation, siege, starvation, and widespread destruction of their means of survival.
… Led by US President Donald Trump, the proposed Board of Peace lacks the legal and moral authority to alter the international approach on Palestinian refugees. This is especially true given its involvement in supporting Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Continue reading at https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/7074/Board-of-Peace%E2%80%99s-exclusion-of-UNRWA-role-in-Gaza,-attempt-to-undermine-UN-mandate-and-Palestinian-refugee-rights