The presidency of the Security Council for the month of October is held by Switzerland, whose representative began the meeting on Wednesday, in which, in addition to the member states, the representatives of Palestine, Israel, Mauritania and Turkey are likely to present their views.
UN agency Commissioner-General Filipe Lazzarini told delegates to the 15-member council that Israel’s introduction of a bill opposed by his agency set a dangerous precedent.
According to him, the draft law presented to the Israeli parliament ‘Knesset’ aims to strip UNRWA of its privileges and immunities.
compromise peace and security
The Commissioner-General, a UN agency, said attempts to dismantle his organization would set a serious precedent for violent conflict situations in other regions, which could then lead to efforts by governments to undermine the work of the UN. .
He warned that failure to oppose the draft law would undermine humanitarian and human rights positions around the world.
Philippe Lazzarini told the Security Council that it must determine how long these measures, which strike at the core of multilateralism, will be tolerated and how long international peace and security will be compromised.
According to Commissioner General Lazzarini, this sense of impunity needs to be responded to decisively. “Or we can accept that after World War II, the rules-based international system is coming to an end.”
deep pain
Following the terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas and other armed groups on October 7, 2023, the Israeli army launched a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip.
The UNRWA chief said that after a year of deep suffering, Gaza is unrecognizable. Thousands of people lost their lives, a large number of them children.
Philippe Lazzarini told representatives of member states that Gaza’s old roads were covered in a sea of rubble and almost the entire population had been displaced.
He said the Israeli military’s offensive in the north was particularly worrying and that no place was safe for civilians. At the same time the people of southern Gaza are living in unbearable conditions and the situation is heading towards famine again.
In the current situation, there is a crisis in children’s education – the future of an entire generation is being destroyed and the seeds of hatred and extremism are being sown. In the wake of this, the UN agency has resumed education programs outside of its life-saving aid program in Gaza.