JERUSALEM: A few dozen Israelis protested outside the Jerusalem office of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Wednesday, calling for its dismantling after Israel accused some staff of colluding with Hamas.
“UNRWA has allowed terrorism,” said American-Israeli protester Allison Epstein. “It is not an organization for peace. It has taught generations of Palestinians to hate Jews. It’s time to dismantle it.”
Around her in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, protesters chanted: “UNRWA is Hamas! Hamas is UNRWA!.”
Created in 1949, the agency employs around 30,000 people in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
It has come under heavy criticism since Israel accused 12 of its Gaza staff of 13,000 of being implicated in the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.
Multiple governments suspended their contributions to the agency, although several have since resumed payments.
The United Nations has launched both an internal and an independent investigation but has said Israel has not provided it with any evidence to support the claims against its staff.
Washington has said that UNRWA has an “absolutely indispensable role” to play in distributing aid in Gaza, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the “entire population” is suffering “severe levels of acute food insecurity.”
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has complained that he has been blocked from entering Gaza, after Israel said he had made paperwork errors in his request.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has joined calls urging Israel to allow him in.
“They are playing an indispensable role in bringing relief to the afflicted civilian population in Gaza,” Borrell said in social media message that also urged Israel to grant visas to other humanitarian workers.
Israeli protesters urge break-up of UN Palestinian agency
https://arab.news/bzmsk
Israeli protesters urge break-up of UN Palestinian agency
- “UNRWA has allowed terrorism,” said American-Israeli protester Allison Epstein
- Around her in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, protesters chanted: “UNRWA is Hamas! Hamas is UNRWA!”
Syrian government, Kurds to extend truce: sources to AFP
- No official announcement has yet come from Damascus or SDF, but two sources said truce is to be extended by one month
DAMASCUS: The Syrian government and Kurdish forces have agreed to extend a ceasefire set to expire Saturday, as part of a broader deal on the future of Kurd-majority areas, several sources told AFP.
No official announcement has yet come from Damascus or the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but two sources said the truce is to be extended by one month.
On Tuesday, Damascus and the SDF agreed to a four-day ceasefire after Kurdish forces relinquished swathes of territory to government forces, which also sent reinforcements to a Kurdish stronghold in the northeast.
A diplomatic source in Damascus told AFP the ceasefire, due to expire on Saturday evening, will be extended “for a period of up to one month at most.”
A Kurdish source close to the negotiations confirmed “the ceasefire has been extended until a mutually acceptable political solution is reached.”
A Syrian official in Damascus said the “agreement is likely to be extended for one month,” adding that one reason is the need to complete the transfer of Daesh group militant detainees from Syria to Iraq.
All sources requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media.
After the SDF lost large areas to government forces, Washington said it would transfer 7,000 Daesh detainees to prisons in Iraq.
Europeans were among 150 senior IS detainees who were the first to be transferred on Wednesday, two Iraqi security officials told AFP.
The transfer is expected to last several days.
Daesh swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, but backed by a US-led coalition, the SDF ultimately defeated the group and went on to jail thousands of suspected militants and detain tens of thousands of their relatives.
The truce between Damascus and the Kurds is part of a new understanding over Kurdish-majority areas in Hasakah province, and of a broader deal to integrate the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration into the state.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s Islamist forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad in 2024.
The new authorities are seeking to extend state control across Syria, resetting international ties including with the United States, now a key ally.
The Kurdish source said the SDF submitted a proposal to Damascus through US envoy Tom Barrack that would have the government managing border crossings — a key Damascus demand.
It also proposes that Damascus would “allocate part of the economic resources — particularly revenue from border crossings and oil — to the Kurdish-majority areas,” the source added.
Earlier this month, the Syrian army recaptured oil fields, including the country’s largest, while advancing against Kurdish forces.
