UNRWA Funding Suspension Shows Donor Nations Complicit in War: Hamdan

By Al Mayadeen English

29 Jan 2024 23:46

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan says the international community is obliged to compel the Israeli occupation to implement the decisions of the ICJ.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan pointed to several massacres carried out by the Israeli occupation in Gaza, 48 hours after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered "Israel" to halt genocidal acts.

This, Hamdan said, "confirms the enemy's determination to continue its crime."

During a press conference on Monday evening, Hamdan emphasized that Israeli massacres will remain "a stain of shame" on the supporters of this entity and those who fail to stop it.

He indicated that the continued escalation of the Israeli occupation's aggression, the prevention of the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the repeated shelling of UNRWA centers protected under international law "raise big question marks" on the duty of the international community.

Regarding the recent UNRWA crisis, the Hamas official condemned the decision taken by the agency to dismiss employees and considered that it distorts the agency's aim.

A couple of days ago, several donor countries suspended funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after the Israeli occupation claimed that some UNRWA staff took part in the Palestinian Resistance's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7. The agency has fired several staff following the Israeli accusations and promised a thorough investigation into these claims.

Hamdan recalled that the UNRWA director did not condemn the Israeli shelling that directly targeted the agency's warehouses, pointing out that the suspension of funding by the United States and eight other countries "confirms the complicity of these countries in the genocide war" and called on UNRWA to reverse its decision.

He stressed that the international community is obliged to compel the Zionist enemy to implement the decisions of the ICJ, adding that by continuing to provide an entity accused of genocide with military and political support, the Biden administration is challenging the court.

In addition, the Palestinian official emphasized the need to unequivocally condemn the occupation and its backers and bring "its fascist leaders to trial."

In a related context, Hamdan praised the efforts of the Yemeni Armed Forces and the resistance in Lebanon and Iraq, in support of Gaza, by targeting Zionist and American interests, holding the US administration responsible for the escalation in the region.

Elsewhere, he concluded by affirming that the key to calm in the region is to end the Israeli aggression and the occupation of land and holy sites.