Amman – On Thursday evening, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered Israel’s decision to confiscate the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem, “a flagrant violation of international law and an attempt to perpetuate the occupation.”
The Ministry expressed, in a statement seen by Anatolia, its “strong condemnation of the Israeli attempts aimed at stopping the agency’s activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, and the systematic incitement against it.”
The move was considered a “flagrant violation of international law, the United Nations Charter, and the immunities and privileges of United Nations organizations operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
She stressed that “these Israeli decisions violate international law and Security Council resolutions, including Resolution No. 2334, and contradict Israel’s obligations as an occupying power.”
The Foreign Ministry explained that “these measures come as part of Israel’s ongoing attempts to perpetuate its occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories and tighten control over them.”
It also warned of “the catastrophic consequences of the continued campaign of Israeli allegations and actions aimed at politically assassinating UNRWA and obstructing its efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, especially in light of the catastrophic humanitarian conditions resulting from the ongoing Israeli aggression against Gaza and the West Bank.”
She stressed “the importance of the international community continuing to support UNRWA politically and financially to protect its international mandate, and to ensure that it continues to provide vital services to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operations.”
Earlier Thursday, the private Hebrew newspaper “Israel Hayom” said that the “Israel Lands Authority” decided to confiscate the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem to establish 1,440 settlement units, and explained that the project is in its “preparatory” stages.
The UNRWA headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which includes offices and warehouses, has been subjected to a series of attacks by right-wing Israelis in recent months, including an attempt to burn it down.
At the end of last May, the Israel Lands Authority informed UNRWA that it must leave the building within 30 days and pay a fine.
But UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler told Anadolu at the time: “I would like to emphasize that we learned about the decision through the media, and we did not receive any information about it from the Israeli authorities.”
Fowler added: “We are absolutely clear about our position; UNRWA has been present in this headquarters and another in East Jerusalem since the beginning of the 1950s. We have every right to be where we are. “We are not going anywhere.”
In conjunction with the decision to confiscate the headquarters, the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) is preparing to vote in second and third readings on a draft law that considers UNRWA a “terrorist” and prevents it from operating in East Jerusalem.
UNRWA is subjected to a severe campaign from the Israeli government, which claimed that the UN agency was cooperating with the Hamas movement, which the UN agency strongly denied.
Anatolia
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