The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, said this Friday through one of his spokespersons that the agency of the organization for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) “is not linked to Hamas” and that it is “the backbone” of the UN humanitarian operations in Gaza.
The spokesman, Farhan Haq, was thus responding to US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who assured this Friday that the UN agency is “a subsidiary of Hamas” and that it will not play “any role” in the delivery of aid to Gaza in the current ceasefire plan.
“UNRWA is the backbone of our humanitarian operations in Gaza. There were a small number of UNRWA staff with credible links to Hamas, and we have managed the situation and dismissed those people. In other cases, no link was found, or no evidence was provided to support the allegations,” Haq said at a press conference today.
He also stated that UNRWA, like the rest of the UN system, is “currently working on the ground to help the people of Gaza” and will “continue to do so.”
Rubio, who is in Israel to evaluate the implementation of the agreement between Israel and Hamas, designed by US President Donald Trump, said that “UNWRA will not play any role” in the peace agreement, after being asked if the UN agency or Hamas will participate in the distribution of aid in the Strip.
The Secretary of State affirmed that the agency is a “subsidiary of Hamas”, according to the Israeli Government’s accusations, denied this Wednesday by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which considers that Israel has not proven its allegations that UNRWA employees are members of the Islamist group.
