Cairo: The Council of the Arab League has endorsed a resolution proposed by Jordan aimed at garnering international backing to oppose recent laws passed by the Israeli Knesset. These laws are viewed as a threat to the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in occupied Palestinian territories.
According to Jordan News Agency, the resolution also highlights the implications of Israeli actions on Palestinian communities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, regions that have experienced prolonged Israeli aggression. The resolution urges the United Nations General Assembly to convene a special session to scrutinize the impact of these Israeli laws and to work towards a UN resolution that rejects the unilateral measures, while challenging the Israeli narrative which seeks to undermine UNRWA’s credibility.
The resolution further invokes Articles 5 and 6 of the UN Charter, calling for an urgent Security Council session to pass a resolution under Chap
ter VII, compelling Israel to annul its laws. It also advocates for the General Assembly to reconsider Israel’s participation in UN meetings, leveraging Algeria’s position as a non-permanent Arab member of the Security Council. The resolution emphasizes the need for continued international political and financial support for UNRWA until Palestinian refugees’ rights to return and compensation are realized per international statutes.
Ambassador Sufian Qudah, spokesperson for the Jordanian ministry, asserted that the Arab League’s decision is driven by Jordan’s recognition of UNRWA’s vital role over the past seven decades since its establishment by a 1949 UN General Assembly resolution. The agency has been providing essential services like health, education, and humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees across its operational zones and within occupied territories.
Qudah stressed that the decision seeks to solidify a unified global stance that upholds UNRWA’s mission and counters Israeli efforts to disrupt its o
perations, politically neutralize it, substitute it with other international bodies, or enable Israel, as the occupying force, to assume any roles within the occupied territories.
Last Thursday, Jordan called for a meeting of the Arab League Council at the level of permanent delegates at the General Secretariat headquarters in Cairo to discuss these significant developments.