Egypt rules out alternative to UN Palestinian agency in Gaza

There are no other alternatives to replace the United Nations agency that provides aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Bader Abdelatty said on Monday, hailing the organization as among the most significant aid bodies in the world. At a time of "grave human rights violations" across Palestinian territories, the mission of such humanitarian organizations as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), has become all the more paramount, the Egyptian foreign minister told a joint press conference in the Egyptian capital alongside the UN body's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East shoulders a "humanitarian and historic" mandate to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, slamming what he called a "malicious campaign" targeting the UN agency and other bodies that support the Palestinians. He called on nations and donors that have suspende d financial aid to UNRWA to "reconsider" such this "unacceptable" decision, saying such a measure is tantamount to condoning the "mass starvation" and other crimes facing the Palestinians, the Egyptian top diplomat added. On his talks with the Egyptian foreign minister, the UNRWA commissioner-general said that greater bilateral cooperation was the key matter discussed, lamenting the death of a number of the UN agency's staff as a result of attacks by Israeli occupation forces. Discussing the aforementioned campaign against UNRWA, he said these actions not only affect the Palestinian aid agency, but the UN as a whole, emphasizing that access to varied aid is among the inalienable rights of the Palestinians. Source: Kuwait News Agency