Members of the European Parliament from 14 nations have appealed to the United Nations to shut down the terror-linked U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Israeli media reported on Sunday.
The Jan. 27 missive from Brussels, the content of which was first revealed by Israeli media on Sunday, urges U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to “put an end to the operations of UNRWA, which contravene the neutrality of the United Nations and do great harm to your essential work and to the image of the organisation you represent.”
The letter, signed by 30 lawmakers from across the European Union, notes reports that the U.N. agency “has contravened all its missions” by allowing the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip “to hide hostages, which is politically, morally and legally highly reprehensible.”
The European Union, through its 27 member states, is UNRWA’s third-largest donor.
“Of course, we understand that refugee management is an important part of the UN’s mission, but we believe that it can be managed by UNHCR,” the parliamentarians added, referring to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the body responsible for all refugees who are not Palestinian.
Israeli-British Emily Damari, who was freed from Gaza on Jan. 19 following 471 days in terrorist captivity, has revealed how she was held at UNRWA facilities after her kidnapping.
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, in a subsequent statement called Damari’s allegations “deeply disturbing and shocking,” while stressing that his agency has “repeatedly called for independent investigations into any credible claims of misuse and disregard of U.N. premises by Palestinian armed militants, including Hamas.”
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, on Sunday voiced support for the E.U. parliamentarians’ call.
“Supporting UNRWA is supporting Hamas. The secretary-general’s and UNRWA Commissioner-General Lazzarini’s turning of a blind eye is not the solution,” tweeted Danon, attaching a copy of the Jan. 27 letter.
On Oct. 28, Israel’s Knesset passed two laws banning UNRWA following the exposure of agency staffers’ complicity in Hamas’s terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and despite pressure from the United States and other countries against the move. The laws came into effect on Thursday.