January 29, 2024
Israel’s foreign minister calls on UNRWA head to resign
Israel’s foreign minister said that he had cancelled meetings with the head of the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and called on him to resign following allegations that some UN staff were involved in the October 7 attacks on Israel.
“I have just cancelled the meetings of UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
“UNRWA employees participated in the massacre of October 7,” he added. “Lazzarini should draw conclusions and resign. Supporters of terrorism are not welcome here.”
The UN agency has fired several employees and launched an investigation after Israel released information allegedly linking the employees in question to the October 7 terror attacks carried out by Hamas militants.
After the allegations were made, a number of countries, including Germany the US, UK and Japan, suspended funding to UNRWA
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the UNRWA as “perforated with Hamas.”
“We discovered that there were 13 UNRWA workers who actually participated, either directly or indirectly, in the October 7 massacre,” he told Britain’s TalkTV.
“In UNRWA schools they’ve been teaching the doctrines of extermination for Israel — the doctrines of terrorism, lauding terrorism, glorifying terrorism.”
Founded in 1948, the UNRWA helps provide education, health care and welfare to some 6 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. “[It] is perceived as a lifeline by Palestinian refugees,” Lazzarini told DW in 2022.
