UNRWA

Israel Step Closer to Making Jerusalem Jewish-Only City

The Israeli government is planning a series of measures aimed at fully denying Palestinians their legal rights in Jerusalem and precluding any future peace settlement based on sharing the city between Israel and a future Palestinian state.
One of the most aggressive measures to date is a bill that was approved by the Israeli Knesset on Tuesday, January 2.

On World Refugee Day, estimates show 66% of Palestinians became refugees in 1948

Ma’an – June 20, 2017 BETHLEHEM – On the anniversary of World Refugee Day, and one month after the 69th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, or “catastrophe,” it is estimated that 66 percent of Palestinians who were living in British-Mandate Palestine in 1948 were expelled from historic Palestine and displaced, according to the Palestinian Central […]

UN Last Hurdle Before Israel Can Rid Itself of the Palestinians

By Jonathan Cook | CounterPunch | June 15, 2017 Nazareth – Israeli and US officials are in the process of jointly pre-empting Donald Trump’s supposed “ultimate deal” to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They hope to demote the Palestinian issue to a footnote in international diplomacy. The conspiracy – a real one – was much in […]

Speech by UNRWA Commissioner to the UN regarding desperate situation of Palestinian refugees

Residents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk queuing to receive food supplies in Damascus, Syria, on Jan. 31, 2014 Image credit: UNRWA via AP
 

The illegal blockade of Gaza remains in place subjecting Palestinians to collective punishment and denying all but a few the opportunity to lead normal lives, including by interacting with the outside world. Reflecting this, 893,000 Palestine refugees are food dependent, 11 times the number 15 years ago.

 

Israel’s Unabashed Role in the Syrian Refugee Crisis

When Zionist Haganah militias carried out Operation Yiftach, on May 19 1948, the aim was to drive Palestinians in the northern Safad District which had declared its independence a mere five days earlier, outside the border of Israel.
The ethnic cleansing of Safad and its many villages was not unique to that area. In fact, it was the modus operandi of Zionist militias throughout Palestine. Soon after Israel’s independence, and the conquering of historic Palestine, the militias were joined together to form the Israeli armed forces.