Israeli Allegations Against UNRWA … Screaming as much as it Hurts

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh

The Zionist entity has consistently resorted, since its inception, to fabricating lies and false accusations, spreading them comprehensively as tools in its diplomatic efforts on the global stage to justify its aggressive policies, and its acceptance as an existing state.

In a striking recent move, the Zionist entity's claim regarding the involvement of some UNRWA staff in “Al-Aqsa Flood operation" bear resemblance to false allegations of using Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza as a command center by the Islamic Resistance Movement.

Both cases involve baseless claims with no factual proof, and at the heart of these allegations lie malicious intentions aimed at systematically depriving Palestinians of their fundamental rights to protection and basic necessities of life; especially that UNRWA "is relied upon by over two million people for survival in Gaza alone.”

For many years, the Zionist entity and  have relentlessly sought to undermine one of the most important humanitarian agencies operations in the context of the aggressive Israeli occupation. However, in the aftermath of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the intensity of the allegations reached a critical point when Israel claimed that UNRWA provides cover for Hamas.

Israeli allegations against UNRWA are an integral part of a propaganda campaign against a United Nations organization to intensify  the Zionist entity’s genocidal war against the Gaza population with the clear aim of depriving them of protection and basic necessities of survival and life. They also aim to rebut UNRWA's accusation against the entity of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, including schools and medical centers, during its ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip. This accusation was specifically cited in the report of  the International Court of Justice.

What stands out in this scenario is the immediate response from major Western powers, including the United States, Italy, Canada, Australia, Britain, and Finland, which decided without careful examination of the ethical consequences and the legal validity of Israel’s allegations, to suspend their funding to UNRWA. I see this as complicity that raises critical questions about collective punishment of the residents of the Gaza Strip under the pretext of alleged mistakes or violations attributed to employees of an International  humanitarian agency.

In fact, these countries’ hasty action, amounts to collective punishment of a population for unproven allegations against few individuals  that are still subject to comprehensive investigation.

In conclusion, this tangible hostility against UNRWA reveals the extent of the impact of the ICJ’s legal proceedings and its significance on the Zionist entity, as its reactions has become a measure of the resonance and effectiveness of efforts aimed at holding it accountable for its crimes against humanity. It also clearly indicates the entity's desperate efforts to reject accountability and commitment to respect international law.