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Israel must “step in” to meet the needs of refugees in Gaza if it goes through with plans to oust the UN agency which provides essential services in the territory, UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday. The statement came after Israel launched an attack on a residential block in north Gaza that killed 93 people, including large numbers of children. Follow our live blog for the latest developments on the war in the Middle East.
Israel must step in if it bans the UN agency that is a lifeline for Gaza, UN says
The United Nations stressed Tuesday that if Israel puts in place new laws cutting ties with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the Israeli government will have to meet their needs, including for food, health care and education, under international law.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, obtained by The Associated Press, that there is no other alternative to the agency, known as UNRWA. It has been a lifeline during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and the Israeli legislation “will have devastating consequences for Palestinian refugees” in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, he said.
Two laws passed Monday could prevent UNRWA from continuing its work in Gaza where people have relied on its emergency food aid and health centers during the more than yearlong war.
Israel has alleged that some of UNRWA’s 13,000 staffers in Gaza participated in the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas that sparked the war. It’s also accused hundreds of UNRWA staff of having militant ties and said it has found Hamas military assets in or under the agency’s facilities.
Welcome to our live blog, where we bring you the latest news on the war in the Middle East. To read about yesterday’s key developments, click here.
Yesterday’s key developments:
- The US expressed concern over an Israeli strike that killed 93 people, including a large number of children, in a residential building in the northern Gaza district of Beit Lahiya.
- Austria said eight of its UNIFIL troops in Lebanon had been wounded in a rocket attack.
- Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement announced Tuesday it had chosen deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed Hassan Nasrallah as leader after his death in an Israeli strike on south Beirut last month.
- At least 2,787 people have been killed and 12,772 injured in Lebanon due to Israeli attacks since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry reported.
- At least 43,061 Palestinians have been killed and 101,223 injured in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, and Reuters)
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