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Nebenzya reported on Russian Federation's call for U.S. to force Israel to lift UNRWA ban

Nebenzia: Russia urged US to force Israel to lift UNRWA ban
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Russia is asking the United States to put pressure on Israel to lift its ban on the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said this on January 28 at a UN Security Council meeting on UNRWA.

"We urge our colleagues in Washington to come to their senses and exert the necessary pressure on West Jerusalem to avoid more suffering of peaceful Palestinians," Nebenzya said, his speech was broadcast on the UN video service.

He noted that Israel would not have been able to so cavalierly violate international law and defy the world if the US had not given it such full military and economic support. Nebenzya recalled that throughout the 15 months of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Washington supplied weapons, which the Israeli army used, killing Palestinian civilians. In addition, the Russian Permanent Representative noted that the US prevented the UN Security Council from making any decisions that would have prevented Israel's plans in Gaza.

Nebenzya noted that Washington is also to blame for everything that is happening around UNRWA. The implementation of the law banning the activities of this agency will harm the prospects for a truce in the conflict. It is already very fragile, but everyone has an interest in preserving it.

Earlier, on January 25, Israel notified the UN that UNRWA must cease its work in Jerusalem by January 30 and vacate all the premises it occupies by that date. NDTV recalled at the time that the agency provides humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, supporting an estimated 6 million people.

Prior to this, on October 28, 2024, the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee of the Knesset (Israel's unicameral parliament) approved a bill to terminate UNRWA. According to the document, officials are not allowed to meet with the agency's workers, issue them Israeli visas or give them economic benefits. In addition, the Israeli authorities said they are going to initiate criminal proceedings against those UNRWA employees who, according to the country's leadership, may be involved in terrorist activities and the attack of the Palestinian radical movement Hamas on the territory of Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israel's decision was condemned by Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, who stressed that banning UNRWA would have negative consequences for the Middle East and the international organization itself. The head of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini, representatives of the Belgian Foreign Ministry and other officials and associations also criticized the bill.

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