Source: The Palestine Chronicle
Philippe Lazzarini*
This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the
perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem. This took place
while UNRWA and other UN Agencies’ staff were on the compound. While there were
no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor
areas. The
UNRWA headquarters has on its grounds a petrol and diesel station for the
Agency’s fleet of cars. Our director with the help of other staff had to put
out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a
while before they turned up. A crowd accompanied by armed men were witnessed
outside the compound chanting “Burn down the United Nations” (see video below from Israeli media). This
is an outrageous development. Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a
serious risk. In light of this second appalling incident in less than a week, I
have taken the decision to close down our compound until proper security is
restored. Over the past two months, Israeli extremists have been staging
protests outside the UNRWA compound in Jerusalem, called by an elected member
of the Jerusalem municipality.
This week, the protest became violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN
staff and at the buildings of the compound. Over the past months, UN staff have
regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation. Our compound has been
seriously vandalized and damaged. On several occasions, Israeli extremists
threatened our staff with guns. It is the responsibility of the State of Israel
as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities
are protected at all times. UN staff, premises and operations should be
protected at all times in line with international law. I call on all those who
have influence to put an end to these attacks and hold all those responsible
accountable. The perpetrators of these attacks must be investigated and those
responsible must be held accountable. Anything less will set a new dangerous
standard.
Philippe Lazzarini is the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) These comments were published from his official X (Twitter) account. @UNRWA
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