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November 2, 2016

UNRWA Report Ignores Hamas Threat, Blames Israel for Security Measures

On November 2, 2016, Pierre Krähenbühl, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), presented UNRWA's report to the UN General Assembly's Special Political and Decolonization Committee. The report presents a one-sided, political account that lays all blame on Israel while avoiding accountability of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and UNRWA itself for the situation of Palestinian refugees.

For example:

  • The 36 page report only mentions Hamas once, and in a context which ignores Hamas launching thousands of rockets against Israel, diverting materials designated for reconstruction of Gaza to terror tunnels and rocket constructions, and violating the rights of Palestinians within Gaza:

    "2. On the political stage, the Palestinian national consensus Government, formed in 2014 following an agreement on 23 April 2014 between Fatah and Hamas, faced considerable challenges and was unable to fully exercise leadership in the Gaza Strip owing to a lack of political unity. Civil servants employed by the de facto authorities continued to receive only partial salaries, a state of affairs that undermined service delivery and created tensions with Palestinian Authority employees.
    3. Security remained volatile with recurring incidents, the firing of rockets and frequent unrest..."

  • The report never mentions UNRWA staff who have incited Palestinians to murder Israelis on social media and celebrated terrorist attacks against Israelis
  • The report notes Israel restricts entry of goods into Gaza while ignoring the context that Hamas regularly confiscates resources to dig terror tunnels and manufacture rockets:

    "While 2015 witnessed a slight easing of Israeli restrictions on the movement of goods into and out of Gaza, the impact on the economy was not tangible and exports remained a fraction of the quantities that used to leave Gaza before the blockade."
  • The report blames Israel for restricting movement of UNRWA staff and implying that Israeli security concerns are not legitimate, while ignoring actual security threats posed by Hamas, including its infiltration into UN agencies and NGOs operating in Gaza:

    "33. Israeli authorities, citing security concerns, continued to restrict the freedom of movement of UNRWA personnel in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. Restrictions included closures of the West Bank and Gaza, the prohibition for local staff not resident in Jerusalem to travel in United Nations vehicles across the Erez crossing or the Allenby Bridge, or to drive in Israel and East Jerusalem, and time-consuming and cumbersome procedures for obtaining permits for local staff not resident in Jerusalem to enter Israel and East Jerusalem..."
  • In contrast to the report's explicit assignment of blame to Israel for activities in the West Bank and Gaza, the report studiously avoids blaming the Assad regime for besieging Palestinian refugees in Yarmuk and other refugee camps in Syria:

    "Major difficulties were encountered in reaching refugee communities in Yarmuk, Khan al-Shih, Qudsaya and Ramadan. UNRWA aid deliveries to Yarmuk were halted in April owing to the capture of the area by extremist armed groups, while access to adjacent areas was suspended on 23 September."
Date
November 2, 2016
Title
Report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, A/71/13
Original Source
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/71/13
Attachment
Click here to view this document in MS Word/PDF format

Related Documents

Date Title
11/2/2016 Statement by Israel on UNRWA Annual Report to the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly
11/2/2016 Statement by Palestinian Representative on UNRWA Annual Report to the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly
11/2/2016 Statement by UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl to the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly
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