Latest news with #UnitedNationsReliefandWorksAgencyforPalestineRefugeesinthe
Qatar Tribune
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
UNRWA chief rejects ‘unsubstantiated claims' of agency's links to Hamas
Tel AVIVcTypeface:> The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has accused Israel of making 'unsubstantiated claims' that the agency has links to the Palestinian group Hamas. Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X that the allegations 'have put the lives of UNRWA staff at serious risk and harmed the reputation of the Agency.' He said that, despite requests to do so, the Israeli government had not 'shared any sufficient evidence, to back up these very serious claims against the Agency and its personnel.' Lazzarini called on Israel to stop its 'unfounded dis-information campaign against the agency'. (DPA)
Japan Today
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Japan pledges backing for UNRWA to address Gaza humanitarian crisis
Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini, left, is welcomed by Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday Japan will support the U.N. agency in charge of assisting Palestinian refugees in its efforts to improve the dire humanitarian situation facing residents of the Gaza Strip. During a meeting at the prime minister's office, Ishiba and Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, agreed to coordinate closely over extending assistance to refugees facing a "severe crisis," the Japanese government said. Lazzarini said 500,000 people are already facing starvation in Gaza as the conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group continues, underscoring the scale of the crisis. Israel allowed the delivery of aid to Gaza earlier this month, after blocking it for over two months to apply pressure on Hamas. © KYODO
The Hindu
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Chanting 'Death to Arabs,' Israeli nationalists gather for annual march in Jerusalem
Chanting 'Death to Arabs' and singing 'May your village burn,' groups of young Israeli Jews made their way through Muslim neighbourhoods of Jerusalem's Old City on Monday (May 26, 2025) ahead of an annual march marking Israel's conquest of the eastern part of the city. Palestinian shopkeepers had closed up early, and police lined the narrow alleys ahead of the march that often became a rowdy and sometimes violent procession of ultranationalist Jews. A policeman raised his arms in celebration at one point, recognising a marcher and going in for a hug. A small group of protesters, including an Israeli member of parliament, meanwhile, stormed a compound in east Jerusalem belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA. The march commemorates Jerusalem Day, which marks Israel's capture of East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. The event, set to begin later in the day, threatens to inflame tensions that are already rife in the restive city amid nearly 600 days of war in Gaza. Jerusalem lies at the heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, who each see the city as a key part of their national and religious identity. It is one of the most intractable issues of the conflict and often emerges as a flashpoint. Last year's procession, which came during the first year of the war in Gaza, saw ultranationalist Israelis attack a Palestinian journalist in the Old City and call for violence against Palestinians. Four years ago, the march helped set off an 11-day war in Gaza. Tour buses carrying young ultranationalist Jews lined up near entrances to the Old City, bringing hundreds from outside Jerusalem, including settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Police said they had detained a number of individuals, without specifying, and 'acted swiftly to prevent violence, confrontations, and provocations'. Volunteers from the pro-peace organisations Standing Together and Free Jerusalem tried to position themselves between the marchers and residents to prevent violence. 'This is our home, this is our state," shouted one protester at a Palestinian woman. 'Go away from here!" she responded, in Hebrew. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the country's police force, visited a flash point hilltop compound holy to Jews and Muslims, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located today. One Israeli lawmaker, Yitzhak Kroizer, could be seen praying. Perceived encroachments by Jews on the site have set off widespread violence on a number of occasions going back decades. 'We are marking a holiday for Jerusalem,' Mr. Ben-Gvir said Monday (May 26, 2025) at the site, accompanied by other lawmakers and a rabbi. 'There are truly many Jews flooding the Temple Mount. How nice to see that.' Beyadenu, an activist group that encourages Jewish visits to the site, said dozens of people had ascended to the holy compound on Monday (May 26, 2025) draped in the Israeli flag, and had prayed there. Since Israel captured the site in 1967, a tenuous understanding between Israeli and Muslim religious authorities at the compound has allowed Jews, who revere the site as the Temple Mount, the location of the biblical temples, to visit but not pray there. Mr. Ben-Gvir says he is changing that status quo. Palestinians already say it has long been eroding because of an increase in Jewish visits to the site. 'Today, thank God, it is possible to pray on the Temple Mount,' Mr. Ben-Gvir said at the site, according to a statement from his office. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there has been no change to the status quo. Police said that Monday's march would not enter the site. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its eternal, undivided capital. Its annexation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. Palestinians want an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital. For many in Israel, Jerusalem Day is a joyous occasion that marks a moment of redemption in their country's history, when access to the key Jewish holy site of the Western Wall was restored and the city was unified. But over recent years, the Jerusalem Day march in the city has become dominated by young nationalist and religious Israelis and on some occasions has descended into violence. UNRWA West Bank coordinator Roland Friedrich said around a dozen Israeli protesters, including Yulia Malinovsky, one of the legislators behind an Israeli law that banned UNRWA, forcefully entered the compound, climbing its main gate in view of Israeli police. Israel has accused the agency, which is the biggest aid provider in Gaza, of being infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the U.N. There was no immediate comment from Israeli police. The compound has stood mainly empty since the end of January, after UNRWA asked staff not to work from there, fearing for their safety. The U.N. says it has not vacated the compound and that it is protected under international law.
Barnama
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Barnama
Uninterrupted Flow of Aid Only Way to Prevent Worsening Gaza Disaster, Says UNRWA
NEW YORK, May 25 (Bernama-QNA) -- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has warned that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza will deepen unless the uninterrupted flow of aid is ensured. In a post on the X platform on Sunday, UNRWA said the Israeli blockade -- now in its third month -- has crippled relief efforts and pushed the enclave into deeper crisis, Qatar news agency (QNA) reported. It said Gaza urgently needs between 500 to 600 aid trucks daily, coordinated by the United Nations (UN).
Egypt Today
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Today
UNRWA: Gaza situation reached the level of a 'great catastrophe'
Gaza under Israeli aggression - file CAIRO - 24 May 2025: Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), confirmed that the situation in the Gaza Strip has reached an unprecedented level of humanitarian deterioration, describing it as a "major catastrophe." In press statements from Cairo, he added that all residents of the Gaza Strip, without exception, have been subjected to a systematic and dangerous process of starvation since the beginning of the war on October 7. Abu Hasna, during a phone call to Al-Qahera News TV channel, indicated that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving, while Gaza is witnessing widespread internal displacement, exceeding 600,000 people, particularly from Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and areas east of the Strip. He said that these residents had previously lost everything and are now being forcibly displaced to other areas within Gaza under bombardment and danger. Abu Hasna explained that the ongoing killings are no longer justified, even by the Israeli side, as civilians, including children and the elderly, are being targeted daily without any justification, contrary to what was previously promoted. He stressed that hundreds are being killed or injured daily in tragic circumstances. Regarding aid, the spokesperson revealed that no more than 130 trucks have entered the Gaza Strip, despite security approvals for more than 400. He concluded by citing warnings from UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini that the elderly are dying due to a lack of medicine, and that the threat of famine and inevitable death threatens tens of thousands of residents unless urgent action is taken.
