UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Telecommunication Union.
Situation in the occupied Palestinian territory
Juliette Touma, for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), speaking from Amman, informed that the previous day a group of Israeli citizens, led by a Member of Knesset and accompanied by media representatives, had entered the UNRWA compound in the occupied East Jerusalem, claiming that they were “liberating” it and setting grounds for a new Israeli settlement. Ms. Touma reminded that the previous year, UNRWA had been forced to leave the compound, and UNRWA’s international staff had not had their visas renewed. This forced entry ran contrary to Israel’s international obligations, she stressed.
Ms. Touma then shared the latest statement by the UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, relating to the letter he had written to the Israeli Foreign Minister. Over the past 20 months, the letter said, the Government of Israel had continuously made unsubstantiated claims against UNRWA, putting its staff and operations at serious risk. Mr. Lazzarini reminded that over the previous decade, UNRWA had cooperated with the Government of Israel, and regularly shared information. Thus far, UNRWA had not received any evidence to substantiate Israel’s very serious allegations against UNRWA. The UN depended on Member States for security, and Member States, not the United Nations, were responsible for criminal investigations and prosecutions of armed militant activity. Mr. Lazzarini stressed in his letter that the Government of Israel had never shared substantial, credible evidence for its allegations with the United Nations. Had such evidence been provided, UNRWA could have acted in accordance with its regulations and due process. The absence of such evidence more than one year later raised a possibility that the accusations were unfounded. In his letter, the Commissioner-General had asked that the Israeli disinformation campaign against UNRWA be stopped, and that humanitarian aid be allowed to enter Gaza.
Extracts from Mr. Lazzarini’s letter can be found here.
Responding to questions from the media, Ms. Touma said that the Government of Israel had continued to put out unsubstantiated claims against UNRWA, including in recent weeks, without any evidence. Over more than 20 months, such claims had been harming the agency’s reputation and putting the lives of its staff at risk. Ms. Touma had no information about the reported aid distribution by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and reminded that Gaza needed 500 to 600 trucks of aid every single day. Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), added that OCHA did not participate in the ongoing modality and reiterated that it was a distraction from what really had to be done in Gaza. Ms. Touma explained that the UN system in the Gaza Strip did much more than just distribute aid; for example, numerous staff were working on establishing and running shelters or operating UNRWA medical clinics and mobile health points. Over 3,000 trucks of food and medicine were lining up on the crossing into Gaza, and in Jordan and Egypt, and stressed that some of the items were expiring soon. Mr. Laerke said that OCHA also continued its operations in Gaza, but it had now been almost 12 weeks of full blockade. The Israeli side had to be asked why some aid was being let in while so much was being blocked. The amount of aid entering Gaza was vastly insufficient, emphasized Mr. Laerke. Ms. Touma said that UNRWA had no international presence in Gaza, as Israel was no longer giving visas to UNRWA’s international staff. On the other hand, a large number of local employees continued to work for UNRWA in Gaza, she reminded. There had to be a stable influx of aid with 500 to 600 trucks per day, as had been the case during the ceasefire. UNRWA did not have information on the alleged distributions by the GHF, but in any case much more ought to be done. On another question, Ms. Touma explained that there had been no UNRWA staff in the compound at the moment when it had been forcefully entered by the group of 15 t 20 Israelis.
Announcements
Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed that the World Health Assembly was closing today, which would be followed by a press conference with Dr. Tedros and a number of WHO experts. The hybrid conference would be open to media around the world, but the priority would be given to the journalists in the Press Room.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said that this was the last briefing for Margaret Harris, who would be retiring this week. She thanked her for the tremendous work done over many years. Ms. Harris emphasized the importance of journalists’ work to help spread information about the critical issues from around the world. The President of the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the UN in Geneva expressed appreciation for Ms. Harris’s professionalism and wished her all the best.
David Hirsch, for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), informed about the report on greening digital companies, expected the following week, and also about the AI for Good and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to be held at Palexpo from 7 to 11 July. Finally, Mr. Hirsch announced that the Giga Connectivity Forum would also be held in Geneva from 8 to 10 July.
Ms. Vellucci said that the Committee on the Rights of the Child would conclude on 27 May its 99th session and issue its concluding observations on the six countries reviewed : Norway, Indonesia, Iraq, Romania, Qatar, and Brazil.
The Human Rights Council would hold an Expert Workshop on the role of the family and family-oriented approaches, policies and programmes in the promotion and protection of human rights and in sustainable development, in Room XX on 28 and 29 May.
The Conference on Disarmament was holding this morning a brief plenary meeting, the first one under the presidency of Kenya.
Finally, Ms. Vellucci informed about two commemorations the following week: on 3 June, the World Bicycle Day would be marked at 9:30 am from Pregny Gate to the Broken Chair; and, also on 3 June, at 4:30 pm, the International Day of UN Peacekeepers would be commemorated in the Ariana Park.
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