"The UN agency for Palestinian refugees is fueling "unrealistic" hopes of return after 70 years and is therefore helping keep the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alive, Switzerland's foreign minister said Thursday...
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis pointed out that the number of Palestinians characterized as refugees - the vast majority of whom are descendants of refugees - living in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza has swelled to more than five million.
'It is unrealistic that this dream [of return] will be fulfilled for all,' he said in an interview given to several German-language papers owned by the Swiss NZZ group...
The UN agency, he said, 'worked as a solution for a long time, but today it has become part of the problem.'
Fueling the conflict?
'It provides ammunition to continue the conflict. For as long as Palestinians live in refugee camps, they will want to return to their homeland,' he said. 'By supporting UNRWA, we are keeping the conflict alive.'..."