By BADIL
On 11 December 2024, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution titled “Supporting the Mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East [UNRWA]” in response to the newly passed laws by the Israeli Knesset that will ban the Agency in Mandatory Palestine by the end of January 2025. While the resolution expresses “concern” for the ongoing dismantlement campaign against UNRWA, and urges states to increase their “voluntary contributions,” it fails to call on states to implement specific and actionable measures to prevent “Israel” from enforcing its laws against UNRWA, stop its dismantlement campaign or hold it accountable. The resolution has not only failed to effectively apply pressure on the Israeli regime to comply with its international obligations and responsibilities, but has paved the way for third states – like the Swedish government’s decision to stop funding to UNRWA in 2025 – to avoid their responsibilities.
The Israeli Knesset laws, set to take effect on 28 January 2025, will eliminate UNRWA’s work in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and exacerbate the Israeli genocide in Gaza, severing crucial aid and services to the displaced, besieged, starved, and injured Palestinian population. Sweden’s decision to halt funding to the Agency, only days after the UNGA resolution, demonstrates support for the Israeli regime’s goal to dismantle UNRWA, contributes to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and Sweden’s disrespect of the multilateral framework.
As a UN-mandated Agency, the protection of UNRWA and its installations, staff and services is the obligation of all UN member states. It is also the obligation of states, by virtue of their membership, to assist in the implementation of resolutions adopted by the UNGA, including Resolution 194. Amidst the ongoing genocide and the Israeli regime’s escalating efforts to eliminate UNRWA, the resolution uses weak language, and avoids making direct, actionable demands on states and places additional burdens on UNRWA
UNRWA’s importance surpasses the provision of aid and services to Palestinian refugees. Since it is mandated to operate until the application of UNGA Resolution 194 — i.e. until the implementation of Palestinians’ right to reparations (including the rights to return, property restitution and compensation) — the Agency has a crucial role in the protection of the Palestine refugee question. The laws passed by the Knesset are not an isolated attack on the Agency, but part of a decades-long campaign aimed at eliminating UNRWA and with it the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Rather than specifying actionable articles for states, the resolution calls on UNRWA to implement the questionable recommendations of the “Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality” (Colonna Report), as UNRWA is facing Israeli measures aiming to end its very existence. In doing so, the resolution ignored states’ obligations to protect the lives of Palestinian refugees and IDPs, as well as UNRWA and its operations in Palestine.
Expecting the violator (the Israeli regime) to stop its actions based solely on verbal appeals, without any real pressure or tangible consequences, is unrealistic and ineffective. Such empty calls reiterate the ongoing failure of the UN to ensure the international protection that Palestinian refugees are entitled to.
The UNGA must call on states to take decisive actions not only to halt the Israeli dismantlement campaign against the Agency, but to enforce a ceasefire and hold the Israeli regime accountable for its genocide and international crimes. This includes implementing political, economic, and military sanctions, and making a firm commitment to oppose any efforts to eliminate or replace UNRWA. Beyond that, the UNGA should call on international organizations and the private sector to take actions to support UNRWA and isolate the Israeli regime by revoking its membership and privileges, halting any financial assistance and cooperation, and urging member states to impose sanctions. This is the only way to protect UNRWA and Palestine refugees’ rights.
20 December 2024
Source:https://badil.org/