Christian Saunders, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in an interview with the Qatari news channel, Al Jazeera, pushed back against Israeli claims regarding the seized Qalandiya training centre after authorities alleged the property was owned by the Jewish National Fund and allocated to the Jerusalem Municipality for a planned complex, citing October 2024 legislation restricting UNRWA’s activities.
UNRWA firmly rejected the claims, maintaining that the centre is a UN facility protected under international law.
“We’re a humanitarian organisation; we’re a development organisation. We are given our mandate by the United Nations General Assembly to provide critical services,” Saunders said. He added that UNRWA would continue doing so “until the General Assembly decides otherwise, or there is a durable solution to the Palestine question”.
Saunders said UNRWA was doing what it could to protect its staff and facilities through security assessments, training and risk mitigation.
He said the Israelis’ use of force was ill-advised and that the only solution was through dialogue.
“I think it is long overdue for the Israelis and the Palestinians to sit down and to resolve these issues. We’re not planning on going anywhere,” Saunders said.
Christian Saunders, accused Israel of trying to “eliminate the presence of the United Nations” in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Saunders told Al Jazeera that while the raid displaced UNRWA employees and left at least seven Palestinians injured by live ammunition, the broader goal is to make the refugee issue disappear.
“If UNRWA is defunded and eliminated, then they are hoping that the issue of the refugees, the Palestine refugees, will go away,” Saunders said. “Which means that the right of return, reparations, and compensation would go away as well.”
Israeli forces seized the facility in the Kafr Aqab neighbourhood near occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir participating and declaring that there was “no place for the agency in Jerusalem and Israel”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the evacuation as lawful under Israeli legislation and accused the agency of aiding Hamas in the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
Saunders expressed “disappointment” over the impact on local young people, noting that the facility previously provided essential education and training.
Some “340 young people are not going to get the education, not going to get the training they need”, Saunders said, stressing that the programme gives students “the skills and an opportunity to lead a full and dignified life”.
source: commonspace.eu with Al Jazeera ((Doha)
