Why does Israel want to « kill » UNRWA?

Israel wants to liquidate the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), created in 1949. The lives of 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in 58 camps in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria depend on this organization. Thirty thousand employees run schools, dispensaries and food aid.

The project has a long history. Ten years ago, the Times of Israel (August 1, 2014) reported, « Israel privately considers that UNRWA (…) should not exist. » As this Palestinian schoolteacher from a camp in Jordan puts it, « UNRWA is an international witness to the crimes committed against the Palestinian people. That’s why they want to kill this witness » (Middle-East Eye, April 16, 2018). So, at the end of January, Israel accused twelve UNRWA employees (out of the 13,000 working in Gaza!) of taking part in the October 7 attack. Immediately, the Biden administration blocked its contribution to UNRWA, followed by nineteen governments, including Macron’s. « People are going to die if the agency is not (funded)« , denounces Juliette Touma, head of UNRWA.

But on February 4, the European Union’s head of diplomacy noted that there was « no proof« , referring to an « Israeli attempt to kill » UNRWA. On February 8, the UN’s internal commission of inquiry wrote that « Israel has provided no evidence« . Caught in a lie, the Israeli propaganda machine launched a new accusation: the entrance to a tunnel had been discovered « near » an UNRWA school!

Embarrassed, Macron’s Foreign Minister tried to justify himself on February 7: « France had not planned to send (UNRWA – ed. note) any payments before the second quarter. We have therefore not suspended our payments ».

More than ever, as the Workers’ Party asserted on January 29, it is up to worker and democratic organizations in France « to demand that the Macron government immediately restore its funding to UNRWA and break off all diplomatic, economic, political and military relations with Israel ».

Jean Alain