UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, October 29, asking for the maintenance of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). On Monday, October 28, the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, voted by a large majority for the law aimed at banning this UN agency.
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What to remember
► The UN Secretary General wrote to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, to ask him to maintain the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, banned by an Israeli law, passed on Monday October 28. The text was voted on by a majority of the 92 members of the Knesset. The vote is final. Many countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Norway or Slovenia condemned the bill.
► According to the association Save the Children, Israeli attacks killed more than 100 children in Lebanon since the escalation of hostilities with Hezbollah on September 23. This represents on average two children per day.
Times are in UT universal time (Paris -1h),
6:06 a.m.: Journalists’ unions denounce the “targeting” of the press in the Middle East
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and other French press unions called on Tuesday October 29 for an end to the “targeting” of journalists killed in Gaza and the Middle East and called for a demonstration on November 2 in Paris.
Their press release lists “ 143 journalists ” You are, of which ” 130 Palestinians in Gaza, 4 Israelis, 1 Syrian and 8 Lebanese – including the last 3 murdered in southern Lebanon on October 25, 2024 “. On the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Committed against Journalists, the signatories also call for a rally on November 2, Place de la République, in Paris.
5:45 a.m.: The NGO Save The Children warns of the number of children dead in Lebanon
“We are plunged into a humanitarian crisis which is above all a children’s crisis. We are beginning to see the same pattern that we observed during more than a year of war in Gaza: mass casualties among civilians, including children (…) The longer the conflict lasts, the more difficult it will be for the children to regain a sense of normality. Six out of ten public schools have been transformed into shelters for displaced people, and the start of the school year has been postponed until November 4, or even later. There is no time to lose, we urgently need a ceasefire “, declared in a press release Jennifer Moorehead, Country Director of Save the Children in Lebanon.
5:40 a.m.: The NGO Amnesty International also condemns the ban on UNRWA by Israel
The secretary general of the NGO Amnesty International reacted in a press release to Israel’s ban on UNRWA. “ This unacceptable law is a direct attack on the rights of Palestinian refugees. It is clearly designed to prevent UNRWA from working in occupied Palestinian territory by forcing it to close its headquarters in East Jerusalem and ending visas for its staff. This is a criminalization of humanitarian aid, which will only worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. », declares Agnès Callamard.
5:32 a.m.: The head of the UN calls for the maintenance of UNRWA in a letter addressed to Benyamin Netanyahu
The general secretary of theUN Antonio Guterres sent a letter to the Israeli Prime Minister on Tuesday, October 29 Benyamin Netanyahu to demand the maintenance of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), banned by law in Israel.
In the letter seen by AFP, Antonio Guterres repeats that if the law is applied, it will have “ devastating consequences » on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, given that “ there is currently no realistic alternative to UNRWA that could adequately provide the services and assistance required “. Since ” cessation of UNRWA activities would leave Palestinian refugees without the essential assistance they need “, Israel, ” as the occupying power, continues to have to ensure that the needs of the population are met “, insists the Secretary General, considering that Israel is bound in its obligations towards UNRWA by an agreement concluded with the UN in 1967 and by the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations ” which applies to Unrwa “.
“ Israel will continue to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza in accordance with international law, but UNRWA has failed in its mandate and is no longer the appropriate agency for the job. “, responded Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, accusing the agency of being ” an arm of Hamas “.
The agency was created in December 1949 by the United Nations General Assembly in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli conflict, shortly after the creation of Israel in May 1948. Deemed irreplaceable by the UN, it is the black beast of Israel which accuses it of being infiltrated by members of the Islamist movement Hamas, behind the October 7 attacks.