Guterres condemns Israel’s plan to label UNRWA a terrorist organisation
The Israeli parliament is planning to pass a law that would classify UNRWA as a terrorist organisation
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Guterres condemns Israel’s plan to label UNRWA a terrorist organisation
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly spoken out against a law proposed by the Israeli parliament that would classify the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as a terrorist organisation.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
العربية
ar
أنطونيو غوتيريش يدين خطة إسرائيلية تهدف إلى تصنيف الأونروا منظمة إرهابية
Such a law, Guterres said in New York, would “suffocate” efforts to ease human suffering and reduce tensions in the Gaza Strip, as well as in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. “It would be a catastrophe in an already complete disaster,” he added.
He has therefore written directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his “deep concern” about the proposed law, “which could prevent UNRWA from continuing its vital work in the occupied Palestinian territories,” he said.
More
More
UNRWA funding: how is Switzerland responding to latest allegations?
This content was published on
A funding crisis hits UNRWA as countries suspend funding, and allegations against its staff escalate. But Switzerland awaits a UN investigation.
The Israeli parliament is planning to pass a law that would classify UNRWA as a terrorist organisation and, according to media reports, ban its work on Israeli territory. A parliamentary committee approved a corresponding draft law a few days ago, meaning it can now proceed to a second and third reading. This is expected to happen. According to media reports, officials from the Foreign Ministry have raised concerns about the practical implications if the law does come into force.
In the past, Israel has repeatedly made allegations against UNRWA, claiming that several of the organisation’s employees were involved in the October7 terrorist attacks and that the organisation as a whole has been infiltrated by Hamas.
External Content
Translated from German by DeepL/sp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Life & Aging
Zurich: how the world capital of housing shortages is tackling the problem
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
In Switzerland more people are being referred to electrical therapies or psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Are there similar approaches where you live?
Pope was a person full of respect: Swiss president
This content was published on
Swiss president Karin Keller-Sutter, who is attending the funeral of Pope Francis, says the pontiff was always full of respect.
Ex-sect member sentenced in Zurich for sexual abuse
This content was published on
Zurich District Court has sentenced a former member of the globally active sect "Children of God" to a partial prison sentence.
SNB chairman does not rule out slowdown in Swiss growth
This content was published on
Martin Schlegel, chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), does not rule out a weakening of the Swiss economy in light of the tariff dispute.
Swiss NGOs abroad to receive 10% less federal funding
This content was published on
In 2025 and 2026, Swiss NGOs will have 10% less federal funding available for international cooperation than in the previous two-year period.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss parliamentarians want to stop UNRWA funding
This content was published on
On Monday, one of the two chambers of parliament in Bern voted to immediately stop payments to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
This content was published on
Israel has accused the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) of being involved in the October 7 attacks. We spoke to the UNRWA head to find out more.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.