UNRWA Chief Warns of Gaza Crisis, Says Agency Exit From East Jerusalem Doesn't Erase Refugee Rights
At the Arab League session in Cairo, UNRWA's interim chief said the seizure of its East Jerusalem premises does not erase Palestinian refugee rights.
The Arab League opened its 166th regular session at the ministerial level in Cairo on Monday, with foreign ministers and heads of Arab delegations gathering under Tunisia's chairmanship. The meeting was convened to coordinate a joint Arab response to what delegates described as illegal Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Christian F. Saunders, Commissioner-General Ad Interim of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), addressed the opening session with a stark assessment of conditions in Gaza. He reported that more than 90 percent of the enclave's population remains without adequate shelter, while approximately 40,000 cubic meters of sewage flows into the Mediterranean daily. He added that only around 3 percent of Gaza's cropland remains accessible and undamaged.
Turning to the occupied West Bank, Saunders described the situation as "increasingly untenable," citing rampant settler violence and the absence of effective protection for Palestinian communities as factors creating "intolerable conditions of life."
On East Jerusalem, Saunders acknowledged that the seizure of UNRWA premises—including its offices, schools, and health centers—has effectively removed the agency from the Holy City. However, he stressed that removing UNRWA does not remove the rights of Palestine refugees.
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy accused Israel of persisting in intransigence and stalling over the implementation of the Sharm El-Sheikh peace agreement, despite its international support, thereby undermining the transition from ceasefire to genuine peace.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reiterated the Arab position, voicing categorical rejection of displacement, settlement expansion, annexation, the liquidation of the Palestinian cause, and any alteration of the topographical, demographic, or geographic character of the occupied territories, including the E1 settlement project.