Article by Viory
UNRWA’s outgoing Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said he was ‘absolutely appalled’ by Israel’s move to bring back the death penalty for Palestinians in the West Bank, as he gave his final press briefing on Tuesday.
“Like many others, have been absolutely appalled by this abject law, which I really hope will be rejected by the Supreme Court. I think I’m not aware of democratic countries reinstating death penalty. We are more used to having countries abolishing death penalties. And on top of that, this would be an extraordinary discriminatory law because it’s it would basically target only one category of the population,” he said.
The legislation which passed on Monday covers ‘execution by hanging’ for ‘terrorists’ tried in military courts. Palestinians in the West Bank are tried by military courts – and now face a mandatory death sentence, by simply majority, and with limited appeals.
The outgoing head of the Palestinian refugee agency also took aim at the ‘disinformation campaign of ‘unsubstantiated and malicious’ claims against it in recent years, and said it was ongoing – and part of a wider plan to ‘weaken’ the voice of Palestinians.
“Well-orchestrated disinformation campaign continues, it alleges agency wide neutrality breaches and asserts that our operations have been replaced in Gaza, where UNRWA remains as of today, a major provider of primary health care, education, clean water, sanitation and hygiene. The purpose of these unsubstantiated and malicious claims is to justify actions against UNRWA and to undermine member States support,” he said.
“I cannot stress enough that the attacks against UNRWA are not about neutrality or operationality. Rather, they seek to undermine the agency to weaken Palestinians right within final status issues in the Israel-Palestine conflict,” he added.
Israel has accused UNRWA of being ‘infiltrated’ by Hamas and said members were involved in the October 7 attacks. Israel also banned UNRWA from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem. The US and others halted funding in the wake of the claims, while Washington is the only major donor not to restart.
UNRWA has said that it has rigorous neutrality rules and systems to address them, and that less than one per cent of its 30,000 staff were found in breach over a two-year period.
Article by Viory
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