The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, stated this Friday from Israel that the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) cannot have a role in the Gaza of the future because it is “an affiliate of Hamas.” In a press conference held at the Coordination Center that the Israeli and American authorities have established in southern Israel to work on the implementation of the ceasefire in the enclave, Rubio has thus joined the smear campaign launched by the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu against the UN agency – during these two years of Israeli military offensive.
The US Government of Donald Trump thus feeds the Israeli narrative, which links the workers to the Palestinian terrorist group without providing evidence. This week, the International Court of Justice discredited that version and denied the existence of elements that lead to thinking that Hamas is infiltrated in UNRWA and urged Israel to allow the institution to guarantee “the basic needs” of two million Gazans.
“UNRWA is not going to play any role in Gaza,” said the head of US diplomacy. Rubio has distinguished that particular agency from the rest of the humanitarian sector and even the entire UN, to which UNRWA belongs. “The UN is here,” he said, pointing back, indicating the presence of the organization in the center. “We see the work that the World Food Program does [también parte de la ONU] and a dozen other humanitarian organizations. We are willing to work with the UN. But not with UNRWA. UNRWA has become an affiliate of Hamas.”
Rubio has appeared before a group of Israeli journalists on a day in which the press in that country and the United States speculate about the alleged frustration that the White House feels about Israel’s behavior during the truce. In line with other members of the Trump Administration who have passed through Israel in recent days, the diplomat has been “positive” for the work done since the cessation came into force, has avoided assigning breaches of the truce to any of the parties and has asked for patience with a peace project. “We are dealing with 30 or 40 years of errors and terrorism and we have only had a two-week truce,” he indicated, praising work “unprecedented in modern history.”
Accompanied by dozens of Israeli soldiers, Rubio has sought the balance between showing the strong support of the United States to the Israeli Government. Asked if Washington offers Israeli troops freedom of action in Gaza – as it does in Lebanon despite the existence, also in this country, of a truce – and if they could restart large-scale bombings if they perceive threats from Hamas, the Secretary of State responded: “I don’t think there is anyone who wants that.” “That would only happen if the truce breaks, and we are not in that scenario,” he insisted.
