عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Arab Ministerial Council Kicks Off, UNRWA’s Support on the Agenda

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (R) receives UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl (C) at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo on September 10, 2018 (AFP Photo/MOHAMED EL-SHAHED)
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (R) receives UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl (C) at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo on September 10, 2018 (AFP Photo/MOHAMED EL-SHAHED)
TT
TT

Arab Ministerial Council Kicks Off, UNRWA’s Support on the Agenda

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (R) receives UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl (C) at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo on September 10, 2018 (AFP Photo/MOHAMED EL-SHAHED)
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (R) receives UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl (C) at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo on September 10, 2018 (AFP Photo/MOHAMED EL-SHAHED)

The Arab League’s 150th session convenes in Cairo on Tuesday at the ministerial level, with an emphasis on supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
 
In this regard, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed that Arab countries would not accept the dissolution of the international agency, stressing: “The ultimate goal of US policy is to undermine the legitimacy of UNRWA and undermine the UN mandate granted to it in order to settle the refugee issue.”
 
“The Arab countries are fully aware of this matter, and will not allow dismantling the agency or replacing it with alternative entities, as sought by Israel and the United States,” he added.
 
Aboul Gheit was speaking during a meeting in Cairo on Monday with UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl, who presented an overview on the crisis following the United States’ decision to suspend its financial contribution to the agency.
 
The secretary general’s spokesman, Ambassador Mahmoud Afifi, said that Aboul Gheit reviewed with the UNRWA commissioner ways to compensate for the US financial contributions and to fill the agency’s deficit so it would be able to continue its operations in the next phase, especially with regard to schools that serve about half a million Palestinian children.
 
Afifi added that a ministerial meeting would be held on Tuesday to discuss how to support UNRWA politically and financially, on the sidelines of the Arab League meeting at the ministerial level.
 
Krahenbuhl held a news conference on Monday at the headquarters of the United Nations Information Center in Cairo, saying he visited Egypt to discuss with the concerned Arab officials ways to deal with the funding crisis.
 
The UN official thanked Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for securing a total funding of USD50 million in aid to UNRWA.
 
He added that the agency needed an additional USD200 million to sustain its operations until the end of the year.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Municipal workers began demolishing seven homes in occupied east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.

"This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan," Jerusalem's Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.

Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirmed that "at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing".

He said that both houses and apartments were affected.

"They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son's house, Haitham Ayed's family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family," Abu Diab told AFP.

He said around "40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighborhood, leaving them homeless".

An AFP photographer saw at least four bulldozers operating on Tuesday at demolition sites in the neighborhood under tight Israeli police supervision.

In a statement, Jerusalem city hall pointed to court orders that call for the demolition of the buildings due to zoning laws that make them illegal.

However, Palestinian residents and activists accuse the municipality of concealing its true intentions.

"The buildings, like most of the buildings in the neighborhood, are located on an area that is a green designation, that is, an open public area and where there is no possibility for zoning," the municipality said, adding that the area would become a green zone instead.

Abu Diab said the true aim of the demolitions was "to reduce the percentage of Arabs and alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem in favor of (Israeli) settlers", connecting them to west Jerusalem.

Israel "is above international law, has escaped accountability, and is exploiting global focus on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the US elections", he said.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Some 230,000 Israeli settlers live in east Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. Another 3,000 live in Palestinian neighborhoods within east Jerusalem's boundaries, according to Israeli rights organization Peace Now.