Israel attacks UNRWA and promises that at the end of the war the UN agency will no longer be in Gaza.
The storm that hit the UN organization for Palestinian refugees - forced to fire 12 of its employees in the Strip for suspected involvement in the October 7 massacre - is spreading more and more.
After the USA, other countries - from Italy to Canada, Great Britain, Finland, Australia and the Netherlands - have also decided to freeze their funding to UNRWA, whose resources for its structures in Gaza have already been shaky for some time.
A decision that Hamas did not like.
"Israel - said Foreign Minister Israel Katz - will work to obtain bipartisan support in the US, the EU and other nations globally for a policy aimed at stopping UNRWA activities in Gaza".
And, for this reason, he asked that the UN "take immediate action against the UNRWA leadership".
"For years - explained Katz - we have warned: the Agency perpetuates the issue of refugees, hinders peace and serves as the civilian arm of Hamas in Gaza. UNRWA is part of the problem".
Hamas responded by calling on the United Nations "not to give in to the threats and blackmail of this rogue Nazi entity."
And he then also attacked UNRWA itself for having fired the 12 employees "on the basis of information coming from the Zionist enemy" and for having described "the resistance of the Palestinian people as terrorism".
Palestinian families abandon Khan Younis to reach Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip
"It is not the task of UNRWA - insisted Hamas - to announce political positions on the conflict" but rather "to defend the rights of the refugees it represents".
The PLO also opposed the decision to freeze UNRWA funds.
"A choice - warned the general secretary Hussein al Sheikh - which entails a political risk. I invite these states to withdraw the decision immediately".
However, stopping funding for UNRWA does not mean the end of aid to the Palestinians.
"We are committed to humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population, protecting the security of Israel", explained Tajani when announcing the Italian government's decision.
Last December, in fact, Italy allocated 10 million euros to help the Palestinian civilian population through other UN agencies, such as the FAO and the WFP, or through the Red Crescent.
In Israel, the protest against the government of Benyamin Netanyahu is increasingly intensifying and his resignation is being requested on the accusation of not doing everything necessary for the over 130 hostages still in Gaza and of not taking into consideration, for this result, a possible ceasefire.
His accusation was rejected by the prime minister who instead insisted on military pressure on the Strip as a solution to bringing the kidnapped people home in the overall strategy of eliminating Hamas.
Palestinian families abandon Khan Younis to reach Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip
"This is Hitler's Mein Kampf in Arabic - he said on TV, showing the volume on Remembrance Day -. It was found in Gaza: this is how they educate their children".
And he once again attacked the Hague Court for not having closed the case of accusations against Israel of possible genocide (the decisions on which a UN Security Council is expected to make next Wednesday).
“On behalf of the new Nazis, South Africa brought the charge and they didn't throw them down the stairs,” he thundered.
Finally he denied a political cooling off with Egypt, instead confirming his accusations against Qatar for Hamas, while recognizing Doha's efforts on the hostages.
Meanwhile, on the 113th day of the war, Israel continues to pound Khan Yunis, the Hamas stronghold in the south of the Strip where fighting is intense, even "close-quarters", between Israeli commandos and militiamen of the Islamic faction.
In the last week - according to the military spokesperson - over "100 terrorists have been killed".
According to the NYT, the USA, Arab countries and Israel itself are working "on a plan that provides for the release of the hostages, a ceasefire, the revision of the Palestinian Authority, and the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel in exchange for creation of a Palestinian state".
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