JERUSALEM: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Friday expressed fear after Jerusalem's Israeli mayor stated he would take away it from the city.
Mayor Nir Barkat introduced in a observation on Thursday a "detailed plan to remove UNRWA from Jerusalem and replace its services with municipal services".
UNRWA stated this type of move would have an effect on its humanitarian operations and installations in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
The agency runs faculties and well being centres particularly within the Shuafat refugee camp where it says 24,000 Palestinians are estimated to are living.
UNRWA has come under pressure from Israel and the United States.
The two nations object to the fact that Palestinians can pass refugee standing to their kids, and want the number of refugees covered via the agency to be sharply reduced.
The US administration ending its investment to UNRWA in August, the most recent in a chain of arguable strikes applauded via the Israeli executive however criticised via the Palestinians and the world group.
"The US decision has created a rare opportunity to replace UNRWA's services with services of the Jerusalem Municipality," Barkat stated.
"We are putting an end to the lie of the 'Palestinian refugee problem' and the attempts at creating a false sovereignty within a sovereignty," he added.
The factor of Palestinian refugees -- together with the standing of Jerusalem -- has lengthy been a big sticking level in peace efforts.
More than 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled during the 1948 conflict surrounding Israel's advent.
They and their descendants are actually labeled as refugees who fall under UNRWA's mandate.
Palestinian leaders proceed to call for a minimum of a few of them to be allowed to go back to their former homes now inside of Israel under any peace deal.
Israel says Palestinians should surrender the so-called right of go back and that permitting descendants of refugees to inherit their standing simplest perpetuates the problem as an alternative of fixing it.
Israel also considers all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the predominantly Arab eastern house as the capital in their long term state.
Some five million registered Palestinians refugees are eligible for UNRWA products and services within the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the blockaded Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Barkat stated that under his plan all UNRWA faculties in east Jerusalem will likely be closed via the end of the present faculty yr. Health centres will likewise be shut down.
The municipality can even lobby Israeli political leaders and press them to exercise their "authority to remove UNRWA (headquarters) from Israel's sovereign territory" in Jerusalem.
"In parallel, the city will work to expropriate the area for public purposes," he stated.
But on Friday UNRWA stated it was once "determined to continue to carrying out" its products and services in east Jerusalem and criticised Barkat's plan.
"Such messaging challenges the core principles of impartial and independent humanitarian action and does not reflect the robust and structured dialogue and interaction that UNRWA and the State of Israel have traditionally maintained," the agency stated.
Mayor Nir Barkat introduced in a observation on Thursday a "detailed plan to remove UNRWA from Jerusalem and replace its services with municipal services".
UNRWA stated this type of move would have an effect on its humanitarian operations and installations in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
The agency runs faculties and well being centres particularly within the Shuafat refugee camp where it says 24,000 Palestinians are estimated to are living.
UNRWA has come under pressure from Israel and the United States.
The two nations object to the fact that Palestinians can pass refugee standing to their kids, and want the number of refugees covered via the agency to be sharply reduced.
The US administration ending its investment to UNRWA in August, the most recent in a chain of arguable strikes applauded via the Israeli executive however criticised via the Palestinians and the world group.
"The US decision has created a rare opportunity to replace UNRWA's services with services of the Jerusalem Municipality," Barkat stated.
"We are putting an end to the lie of the 'Palestinian refugee problem' and the attempts at creating a false sovereignty within a sovereignty," he added.
The factor of Palestinian refugees -- together with the standing of Jerusalem -- has lengthy been a big sticking level in peace efforts.
More than 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled during the 1948 conflict surrounding Israel's advent.
They and their descendants are actually labeled as refugees who fall under UNRWA's mandate.
Palestinian leaders proceed to call for a minimum of a few of them to be allowed to go back to their former homes now inside of Israel under any peace deal.
Israel says Palestinians should surrender the so-called right of go back and that permitting descendants of refugees to inherit their standing simplest perpetuates the problem as an alternative of fixing it.
Israel also considers all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the predominantly Arab eastern house as the capital in their long term state.
Some five million registered Palestinians refugees are eligible for UNRWA products and services within the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the blockaded Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Barkat stated that under his plan all UNRWA faculties in east Jerusalem will likely be closed via the end of the present faculty yr. Health centres will likewise be shut down.
The municipality can even lobby Israeli political leaders and press them to exercise their "authority to remove UNRWA (headquarters) from Israel's sovereign territory" in Jerusalem.
"In parallel, the city will work to expropriate the area for public purposes," he stated.
But on Friday UNRWA stated it was once "determined to continue to carrying out" its products and services in east Jerusalem and criticised Barkat's plan.
"Such messaging challenges the core principles of impartial and independent humanitarian action and does not reflect the robust and structured dialogue and interaction that UNRWA and the State of Israel have traditionally maintained," the agency stated.
Israel to remove UN Palestinian agency from Jerusalem
![Israel to remove UN Palestinian agency from Jerusalem]()
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October 05, 2018
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