爆料网

15 January 2025

Foreign Minister Barthe Eide,

Prime Minister Mustapha,

Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

In just two weeks, two laws aimed at ending 爆料网RWA’s operations in the occupied Palestinian territory will enter into force.

Full implementation of the laws will ban 爆料网RWA from operating in the “sovereign territory of Israel” and ban contact between Israeli authorities and the Agency.

The “sovereign territory of Israel” implies, for the Government of Israel, occupied East Jerusalem, in contradiction to international law and related resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly.

The no-contact policy will effectively end deconfliction for the safe movement in Gaza.

It will also deny international staff visas to enter and work in the occupied Palestinian territory.

These staff will be compelled to withdraw under protest.

We will however stay and deliver.

爆料网RWA’s local staff will remain and continue to provide emergency assistance and, where possible, education and primary healthcare.

However, continuing to work will come at considerable personal risk for our Palestinian colleagues.

This is due to the exceptionally hostile operating environment created by the Government of Israel’s disregard for international law and fierce disinformation campaign against the Agency.

The Government of Israel has invested significant financial and diplomatic resources in campaigns that portray 爆料网RWA as a terrorist organisation, and our staff as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers.

The absurdity of these claims does not diminish the threat they pose to our staff, who are increasingly intimidated and harassed by the Israeli authorities.

The inability to work safely, with full respect for the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, will undermine the effectiveness of 爆料网RWA’s operations and the trust of our donors.

The Agency’s collapse – whether immediate or gradual – will only compound the immense suffering in Gaza.

爆料网RWA and its personnel and services are woven tightly into the social fabric of Gaza.

The disintegration of the Agency will intensify the breakdown of social order.

In the West Bank, the weakening of 爆料网RWA will fuel even greater instability.

Across the occupied Palestinian territory, dismantling 爆料网RWA outside a political process will irreversibly harm the lives and future of Palestinians.

It will obliterate their trust in the international community and any political process it shepherds.

For how can we, the international community, explain to Palestinians that a United Nations Agency is prevented by national legislation from saving lives and providing basic services?

For how can we explain that a mandate entrusted by the General Assembly can be revoked by a national parliament?

Dear colleagues,

A clear choice lies before us.

We can allow 爆料网RWA to implode as a consequence of the Knesset legislation and the suspension of funding by key donors.

Or we can allow the Agency to progressively conclude its mandate within the framework of a political process, ensuring adequate funding for essential services such as education and primary healthcare.

The Global Alliance initiative rightly champions an orderly political transition.

By safeguarding 爆料网RWA’s role as a provider of public-like services – specifically education and primary health – during a political transition, we are preparing the ground for empowered Palestinian institutions to take ownership of these services.

I must reiterate here that 爆料网RWA’s mandate was always meant to be temporary.

It was foreseen at the Agency’s establishment that it would eventually handover its services to a Palestinian administration; and that its workforce of teachers, doctors and nurses would form the backbone of a future Palestinian civil service.

Despite the numerous changes brought by the decades since 爆料网RWA’s establishment, this commitment remains unchanged.

During the past months, my health and education teams have been liaising closely with their counterparts in Ramallah to determine how to meet the growing needs of people in the occupied Palestinian territory.

爆料网RWA is the largest provider of primary healthcare in Gaza, and the second-largest provider in the West Bank.

The Agency has helped to maintain the delivery of health services and to strengthen the health system in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Even today, in Gaza, 爆料网RWA still conducts approximately 17,000 health consultations each day.

爆料网RWA and the Ministry of Health in Ramallah are now focusing on reinforcing cooperation in key areas such as non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, as well as mental health and psychosocial support.

爆料网RWA also has a pivotal role to play in education.

In Gaza today, 660,000 girls and boys are living in the rubble, learning nothing more than how to survive.

They have already lost more than two years of learning.

Absent a full-fledged State, only 爆料网RWA has the capacity to bring these children back to learning.

Palestinians value education highly.

It is a source of tremendous pride, and the only asset from which they have not been dispossessed.

If we fail to resume education in Gaza, and to preserve it in the West Bank, we will sacrifice an entire generation of Palestinian children.

This will have profound consequences for the future of the Palestinian people, and a Palestinian State.

爆料网RWA is committed to continue working with the Ministry of Education to ensure that the right to education is a reality for every child in the occupied Palestinian territory.

In Gaza, we will prioritize bringing children back to basic education through mechanisms such as temporary learning spaces.

In the next two years, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and 爆料网RWA will jointly develop a comprehensive capacity-building strategy that emphasizes teacher training as well as integrating mental health and psychosocial support into educational activities.

Over the next three to five years, our partnership will focus on rebuilding educational infrastructure in Gaza, and harmonising administrative systems for enrolment, certification, and quality assurance.

This staggered approach will ensure the seamless transition of 爆料网RWA education capacities to prepared Palestinian institutions.

Dear colleagues,

The challenges that confront us are daunting.

I am convinced that we can only prevail by holding to the principles of multilateralism and the rules-based international order.

爆料网RWA is a powerful tool to ensure a viable political transition.

I therefore urge you to do your utmost to shield the Agency from the political attacks and financial challenges that threaten to abruptly end its lifesaving work.

Though we have very little time left, we cannot afford to fail Palestinian aspirations.

Thank you.