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Saudi Arabia Reiterates Full Support to Palestinians, UNRWA

Palestinian refugee knocks on the closed gate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters with his walking stick. (photo credit:REUTERS)
Palestinian refugee knocks on the closed gate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters with his walking stick. (photo credit:REUTERS)
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Saudi Arabia Reiterates Full Support to Palestinians, UNRWA

Palestinian refugee knocks on the closed gate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters with his walking stick. (photo credit:REUTERS)
Palestinian refugee knocks on the closed gate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters with his walking stick. (photo credit:REUTERS)

Saudi Arabia reaffirmed on Wednesday its commitment to support Palestinian refugees wherever they are found, saying that it spares no effort in trying to find solutions for persisting financial challenges faced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The kingdom said that UNRWA provides a vital service in terms of enabling youth and proving job opportunities, which is viewed as the first line of defense against radicalization.

This came in a speech delivered by the member of the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom to the United Nations Shaher Bin Khalid Al-Khanini before the Special Political and Decolonization Committee of United Nations.

The Saudi delegate stressed that the tragedy of the Palestinian people will not end as “Israel continues its occupation of Arab territories and its violation of international law,” emphasizing on the need to immediately seek to address root causes of resolving this crisis.

He also urged the need to stop the forced and chronic displacement of refugees by ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the rest of the Arab territories, retreating to the 1967 borders.

Khanini said the Kingdom provided uninterrupted support for UNRWA in past decades, which ranks it as a first donor country.

In 2017, Saudi Arabia donated $51 million to finance a number of projects in health, education, social and housing areas. It also pledged $36.9 million for projects scheduled for 2018.

The Kingdom’s annual contribution amounts to $2 million, he added.

According to UNRWA, nearly one-third of registered Palestine refugees, more than 1.5 million individuals, live in 58 recognized Palestine refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

A Palestine refugee camp is defined as a plot of land placed at the disposal of UNRWA by the host government to accommodate Palestine refugees and set up facilities to cater to their needs. Areas not designated as such are not recognized as camps.

However, UNRWA also maintains schools, health centers and distribution centers in areas outside the recognized camps where Palestine refugees are concentrated, such as Yarmouk, near Damascus.

Land plots on which the recognized camps were set up are either state land or, in most cases, land leased by the host government from local landowners.

Consequently, refugees in camps do not ‘own’ the land on which their shelters were built but have the right to ‘use’ the land for a residence.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.