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Shtayyeh : ‘UNRWA Crisis’ Aligns with Israel’s Plan for Palestinian Displacement

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (photo credit: ABBAS MOMANI/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (photo credit: ABBAS MOMANI/POOL VIA REUTERS)
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Shtayyeh : ‘UNRWA Crisis’ Aligns with Israel’s Plan for Palestinian Displacement

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (photo credit: ABBAS MOMANI/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (photo credit: ABBAS MOMANI/POOL VIA REUTERS)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on countries that announced their temporary freeze of new financial assistance for the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) to revert their decision.
Shayyeh added that the suspension of funds to UNRWA coincides with Israel’s plan to displace the people in Gaza, indicating that this suspension comes during challenging times and at a time when the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to allow aid to enter Gaza immediately.
During a press conference in Ramallah on Sunday, Shtayyeh noted that the countries that have announced freezing funding for UNRWA contribute about 70% of the agency’s budget, which in turn contributes to the relief of about 1.7 million people in the Gaza Strip.
On his part, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appealed to the countries that suspended funding to UNRWA to reconsider their decisions, to ensure continuity of its vital humanitarian operations.
Several nations, including the US, have halted donations to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees amid accusations by Israel that several UNRWA staff were involved in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas members.
Over two million civilians in the Gaza Strip depend on lifesaving aid provided by UNRWA.
Israel has not disclosed details of the accusations leveled against UNRWA staffers, as confirmed by the UN.
UNRWA stated that it is currently investigating the matter.
The Palestinian Presidency also issued a statement on Sunday expressing its rejection of the campaign led by the Israeli government against UNRWA.
In a statement, the Palestinian Presidency described the campaign against UNRWA as unjust and aimed at liquidating the issue of Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinian Presidency stated that this contradicts UN Resolution 302, under which UNRWA was established on Dec. 18, 1949, and other UN resolutions related to the issue of refugees.
The Palestinian Presidency called on the countries that took a stance against UNRWA before the completion of the investigation into the allegations against it to reconsider these positions.
Such positions, if maintained, would unjustly punish millions of Palestinians, especially those who were displaced from their land in 1948.
Tel Aviv continues to commit crimes against them, including the recent genocide in the Gaza Strip, the statement read.

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Houthi Network Recruits Hundreds of Yemenis to Fight in Ukraine

Honoring a Yemeni fighter in the ranks of the Russian forces (local media)
Honoring a Yemeni fighter in the ranks of the Russian forces (local media)
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Houthi Network Recruits Hundreds of Yemenis to Fight in Ukraine

Honoring a Yemeni fighter in the ranks of the Russian forces (local media)
Honoring a Yemeni fighter in the ranks of the Russian forces (local media)

In a nearly one-minute video, a young Yemeni man tells how he and his colleagues traveled to Russia on the promise of lucrative employment in fields such as “security” and “engineering”, but ended up fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
The young man, whose face was covered, expressed with his colleagues their desire to return to Yemen. They said they did not wish to suffer the same fate as their friends and get killed.
Last Sunday, The Financial Times said in a report that Russia’s armed forces have recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in Ukraine, brought by a shadowy trafficking operation that highlights the growing links between Moscow and the Houthi militant group.
Later in video recordings, young Yemeni men spoke about the practice of Houthi smugglers who take advantage of the difficult economic conditions of Yemenis to recruit hundreds of them, and send them to fight alongside Russian troops.
The network of traffickers operate from Yemen and other Arab countries, and coordinate with others within Russian territory.
The Houthi network recruited hundreds of Yemenis and sent them to fight in Russia, according to sources close to their families and others in the Yemeni government.
In one of the videos, a group of Yemeni recruits said they worked in Oman, when a medical equipment company founded by a Houthi politician, Abdulwali Abdo Hassan al-Jabri, lured them by promises of lucrative employment in fields such as “security” and “engineering” in Russia.
They said they were promised a salary of $2,500 per month. But arriving in Moscow, they were received by a representative from the Russian Defense Ministry who told them they will work as security guards at Russian facilities.
Two days after their arrival, the recruits were sent to camps, where they trained for combat and received a salary of between $185 and $232 a month. They are now calling on the Yemeni government to intervene to return them to their country.
But another Yemeni, Ahmed, who is familiar with a group of recruits, explains that he and his friends had warned these young men not to go to Russia where they risk getting involved in the ongoing war.
The recruits told him that they could escape to Europe and seek asylum as hundreds of Yemenis did before.
However, after arriving with the help of a Houthi-linked medical company, many have apparently been coerced into the Russian military, forced to sign fighting contracts at gunpoint and sent to the front lines in Ukraine.
A member of the Yemeni community in Russia told Asharq Al-Awsat that smugglers are luring Yemeni young men to go to Russia to work for salaries of up to $2,500 per month and are then transferred to Arab capitals, including Muscat, Beirut and Damascus, to be then transferred to Russian territory.
After their arrival, he said, the recruits are taken to weapons training camps, allegedly as employees of a security company. But they are later sent to fight on the front lines with Ukraine along with mercenaries from other nationalities.
Activists and members of the Yemeni community in Russia estimate that there are about 300 young Yemenis who refuse to join the fighting in Ukraine and want to return to their country.
“Those men were tempted by the dire economic conditions in Yemen due to the ongoing war,” the activists said.
A Yemeni recruit of the shadowy trafficking operation said that Abdulwali Abdo Hassan al-Jabri, a prominent Houthi politician, is one of the main recruiters. He is assisted by his brother Abdul Waheed, who was appointed by the group as director of Al-Masrakh districts in Taiz Province.
The recruit said that the group of traffickers includes Hani al-Zarriqi, who has been living in Russia for years, and Mohammed al-Iyani, who lives in a Yemeni neighboring country.
Two relatives of the recruits accuse al-Jabri and his aides of arranging the transfer of the young men from Yemen to a neighboring country, and from there to Moscow, on the pretext of working for private security companies. The traffickers receive a commission of between $10 and $15 thousand per person.