Tel Aviv
The case could not come at a worse time for a Palestinian population in the bombed, hungry and homeless Gaza Strip.
The financial survival of the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), their only source of emergency assistance, is under threat.
The United States and Germany, the two largest contributors, along with six other countries - Canada, Australia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Finland and the Netherlands - have suspended financial aid to following the involvement of at least twelve members of the agency out of 30,000 employees in Gaza in the massacres committed by Hamas on October 7 in the south of the Gaza Strip, which left nearly 1,200 dead.
France, like Switzerland, declares that
it does not plan a new payment in the first quarter of 2024”,
but
“will decide when the time comes on future conduct”.
Nine employees laid off
Information on this affair was revealed by the Israeli army's intelligence services and then transmitted to the Americans.
This information was then confirmed by Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA.
He revealed that the agency had
“terminated the contracts”
of some of its employees and launched an “independent and transparent” investigation
.
Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, who declared himself
“horrified”
by this affair, specified that nine employees were fired, another was killed, while the fate of the last two is unknown.
But, according to Israeli services, the number of employees involved in blood crimes is higher.
After committing a mea culpa, Philippe Lazzarini described the reaction of contributing countries as
"shocking"
, while UNRWA plays a vital role in ensuring the survival of 2.2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip confronted to a catastrophic humanitarian situation.
The figures speak for themselves: 25,000 dead, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas Ministry of Health, more than a million and a half displaced Palestinians who had to leave their homes to flee the fighting, 45% of residential buildings destroyed, according to a World Bank report.
UNRWA, active in
19 refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, constitutes the only lifeline in such a situation.
The agency ensures the education of more than half a million children, not counting food aid, which arrives in dribs and drabs in an enclave where 80% of the population already lived below the poverty line before the war. poverty.
This institution is also active among refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank.
Established in 1949 after the expulsion or flight of 700,000 Palestinians following the war, which resulted in the creation of the State of Israel, it is the most important agency of the UN.
Another specificity: only Palestinians benefit from refugee status from generation to generation, so that the number of Palestinians cared for by UNRWA currently reaches 6 million.
For Israel, this perpetuation of refugee status only fuels the conflict.
Israel Katz, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, took the opportunity to appeal to Philippe Lazzarini –
“Resign, please
” – while welcoming the cessation of international contributions.
“UNRWA will have no role to play the day after
(the war),
this agency perpetuates the refugee issue, obstructs peace and serves as a civilian army for Hamas
,” accused the head of diplomacy.
The UN is indeed far from being in the odor of sanctity in Israel.
In December, Eli Cohen, the previous Minister of Foreign Affairs, denounced Antonio Guterres - he had severely criticized the impact of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip on the civilian population - and called for his removal, calling him a "
danger for world peace
.
The appeals launched Friday in The Hague by the International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body of the UN, only reinforced this anti-UN hostility.
Seized at the request of South Africa, which accuses Israel of engaging in a
“genocide”
against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the judges of this institution have not taken their stand, at this stage of the procedure, this accusation nor demanded an immediate end to the fighting, as Israeli leaders feared.
But the court issued orders that Israel must refrain from
"any act of genocide"
and
"prevent direct and public incitement to commit genocide."
The court also called on the Jewish state to take
“immediate and effective measures to enable the provision”
of humanitarian aid
“which the Palestinians most urgently need.”
Benjamin Netanyahu immediately attacked the Court by refusing to commit to obeying its injunctions.
“We will continue to fight to the end against Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization,”
reaffirmed the Prime Minister.
Some commentators have given a mixed assessment of this legal battle which is far from over.
As Nadav Eyal points out in the daily
Yediot Aharonot
:
“The important thing for the Palestinians and South Africans was to impose a narrative according to which Israel is trying to kill the Palestinian people.
The simple fact that this court has agreed to examine these allegations constitutes a success for them.”
And added:
“As long as the procedure lasts, this accusation of genocide will continue to weigh on us.”