Palestinian Foreign Ministry Condemns Israeli Forces” Invasion of UNRWA Schools
Ramallah, February 19 (QNA) – The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the invasion of UNRWA-run schools in Jerusalem and Qalandiya by the Israeli occupation forces and police, along with their assault on students and teaching staff, followed by the subsequent shuttering of those institutions.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry stressed that these Israeli practices imply that hundreds of students would be sorely bereft of their rights to education and consequently inflict damage upon the educational process in a flagrant violation of the immunity and privileges afforded to the United Nations and its affiliated institutions.
These violations are unequivocal infringement of international law and international legitimacy”s resolutions, the statement reads, stressing that Jerusalem has been an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967 and the capital of the State of Palestine.
The ministry condemned the unabated Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian displaced camps, particularly in the northern West Bank, and the targeting of UNRWA”s premises, schools, and facilities in those camps. It considered this assault as part of the attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause, denial of the right of return for Palestinians and the forcible elimination of the refugee status through occupation in line with its expansionist colonial interests.
It emphasized that the international numbness toward the Israeli crimes has condoned Israel to even target the internationally mandated UN institutions, stressing that it constantly monitors the Israeli war on UNRWA with all international parties, particularly the UN Secretary-General, the UN Security Council and UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
This issue has been under thorough discussions during the recent meeting between Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Palestine Varsen Shaheen Aghabekian and Lazzarini in Cairo, the statement continued, adding that Aghabekian continues to follow up on converting the international unanimity on rejecting the Israeli move into practical steps to compel Israel to reverse this decision. (QNA)
Source: Israeli Police