ANKARA: The UN’s beleaguered agency for Palestinian refugees is to open an office in Ankara within weeks, its chief Philippe Lazzarini said on a visit to the Turkish capital on Thursday.
“We have signed the final agreement with the government of Turkiye and this time it has been also endorsed by the parliament,” he told reporters, adding that it was “a question of weeks” until it opened.
The move came a day after the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said it was going through a “dire” financial crisis that had forced it to fire 571 of its Gazan staff who had continued working for it after being evacuated from the war-ravaged territory.
UNRWA said the “extremely difficult” decision was down to funding issues sparked by a fall in the voluntary contributions it relies on following a campaign of increasingly harsh criticism and attacks by Israel.
For more than seven decades, the agency has provided aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and was still operating “despite many, many constraints,” Lazzarini said.
Last year, Israel banned UNRWA from operating inside the country and Lazzarini said it was also seeking to halt its operations in the Palestinian territories.
“There is a desire by the government of Israel to dismantle UNRWA, to make sure that the agency has no future role in Gaza and possibly in the occupied Palestinian territories,” he said.
“If the agency cannot, or has to stop operating in Gaza or the West Bank, this will create a huge vacuum. Basically, there is absolutely no partner or capacity to take over public services at such a scale and scope, and with the community trust that the agency has enjoyed until now,” he said.
Israel has been ratcheting up pressure on UNRWA over the past two years.
It has accused the agency of providing cover for Hamas militants, claiming that some UNRWA employees took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
A series of investigations found some “neutrality-related issues” at UNRWA but said Israel had not provided conclusive evidence for its headline allegation.
UN agency for Palestinian refugees says to open Ankara office ‘within weeks’
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UN agency for Palestinian refugees says to open Ankara office ‘within weeks’
- The move came a day after the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said it was going through a “dire” financial crisis
- UNRWA said the “extremely difficult” decision was down to funding issues sparked by a fall in the voluntary contributions it relies on
Bahrain arrests four for spying for Iran’s IRGC as Gulf attacks intensify
- Investigators said the suspects were found to have sent pictures and coordinates of vital locations in Bahrain to the IRGC via encrypted software
MANAMA: Bahrain has detained four citizens suspected of spying for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on Gulf states show no signs of letting up.
Bahrain’s General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science identified the four detainees as Murtadha Hussain Awal, 25; Ahmed Isa Al Haiki, 34; Sarah Abdulnabi Marhoon, 36; and Elias Salman Mirza, 22. A fifth suspect, Ali Mohammed Hassan Al Shaikh, 25, remains at large abroad.
Investigators said Murtadha Hussain and his cohorts, acting on IRGC instructions, used high-resolution equipment to photograph and record coordinates of vital locations in Bahrain, transmitting the data to the IRGC via encrypted software.
The arrests come as Iran escalates attacks across the Gulf. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry issued an advisory urging residents in Hidd, Arad, Qalali and Samaheej to stay indoors and seal windows against smoke from fires sparked by Iranian strikes. Fuel tanks at a facility in Muharraq Governorate, northeast of Manama, were among the targets. Oman’s Port of Salalah also battled blazes at fuel storage tanks following separate Iranian drone strikes.
Elsewhere in the region, two Iranian drones struck near Dubai International Airport, wounding four people, though flights continued uninterrupted. A fire broke out at a luxury apartment tower in Dubai Creek Harbour after another drone hit — extinguished by Thursday morning.
Iran also targeted commercial ships and struck what officials described as the world’s busiest international airport on Wednesday, as US and Israeli strikes continued to pound Tehran.
A war now 12 days old — and costly
The conflict began on February 28, when US and Israeli forces launched coordinated strikes on Iran. Tehran has since retaliated by targeting Gulf states, US and Israeli assets, and critical energy infrastructure.
Iran has declared a blockade on energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint for global oil and gas flows, sending commodity prices surging and rattling international markets.
The Pentagon told Congress this week that the first week of war cost the United States $11.3 billion — including $5 billion in munitions in the conflict’s opening weekend alone.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday voted to approve a resolution demanding a halt to Iran’s attacks on its Gulf neighbors. Bahrain’s UN Ambassador Jamal Alrowaiei welcomed the move.
“The international community is resolute in rejecting these Iranian attacks against sovereign countries that are threatening the stability of the peoples, especially in a region of strategic importance to global economy, energy security and global trade,” he said.
Despite the resolution, there were no immediate signs the conflict was easing.
(With AP)
