Ammon News - The Council of the League of Arab States adopted yesterday, Thursday, a resolution submitted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to mobilize international support to confront the dangerous illegal laws passed by the Israeli Knesset, which lead to banning the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the occupied Palestinian territory, and the repercussions that will result from such arbitrary Israeli measures against the Palestinian people in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, which has been witnessing Israeli aggression for more than a year.

The official spokesman for the Ministry, Ambassador Dr. Sufian Al-Qudah, explained that the resolution issued by the meeting contained executive and procedural elements that included a request to hold a special session of the General Assembly, in its capacity as the issued decision to establish UNRWA, to discuss the repercussions of the dangerous Israeli laws, and to work on issuing a UN resolution that includes rejecting the illegal unilateral Israeli measures, and exposes the Israeli narrative that seeks to tarnish the reputation of the agency.

The resolution also called for an emergency session of the Security Council aimed at issuing a resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter obligating Israel to retract its illegal laws, and calling on the General Assembly to review the freeze on Israel’s participation, as the occupying power, in UN meetings in accordance with the provisions of Articles 5 and 6 of the Charter, to be presented through Algeria as a non-permanent Arab member of the Security Council, in addition to calling on the international community to continue providing political and financial support to UNRWA until the right of Palestinian refugees to return and compensation is met in accordance with international law.

Ambassador Al-Qudah stressed that the decision of the League of Arab States comes in recognition by Jordan of the vital and essential role played by UNRWA over the past seven decades since its establishment by a UN resolution issued by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to provide humanitarian relief, education and health services to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operation and within the occupied Palestinian territory.

The official spokesman added that the decision aims to strengthen a unified international position that supports the agency and confronts Israeli efforts to undermine its work, assassinate it politically, replace it with any other international organization, or allow Israel, the occupying power, to assume any of its roles in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The Council of the League of Arab States held a meeting at the level of permanent delegates on Thursday, at the headquarters of the League's General Secretariat in Cairo, at the request of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

It is noteworthy that Jordan has worked in the past ten years to mobilize international support through meetings and conferences it called for with supporting partners from sister Arab countries and friendly countries, through which Jordan was able to maintain the existence of the agency, the continuity of its work, and its performance of the role that no party can replace or perform.

The following is the text of the resolution issued by the meeting of the Council of the League of Arab States at the level of permanent delegates in its extraordinary session regarding the steps necessary to be taken to mobilize international support to confront the dangerous illegal laws passed by the Israeli Knesset to ban the activities of UNRWA:

1. Condemning in the strongest terms the Israeli Knesset’s adoption of illegal laws banning the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the occupied Palestinian territory, and preventing it and its employees from obtaining the diplomatic privileges and immunities granted to United Nations organizations operating in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, as a flagrant violation of international law and Israel’s obligations as the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territory, and considering these laws null and void and part of the campaign to systematically target the agency and a continuation of Israel’s efforts to politically assassinate the agency, and an unacceptable attempt to obliterate the issue of Palestinian refugees.

2. Emphasizing that the vital and fundamental role played by the Agency in providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, which has been afflicted by the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip, cannot be replaced or replaced by any other international organization or body, and affirms its categorical rejection of any attempt that leads to the occupying power undertaking this role.

3. Emphasizing that the decisions issued by the occupying power cannot cancel the UN resolutions that guaranteed the rights of Palestinian refugees to return and compensation, and considering them null and void and worthless and a flagrant violation of international law, and that the immunities and privileges enjoyed by UNRWA and its employees under international law and various international agreements may not be violated by anyone.

4. The Council affirms that what was issued against UNRWA represents a flagrant violation of Israel’s obligations as the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territory in accordance with international law, international humanitarian law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the Charter of the United Nations, in particular Article (2), Paragraph (5), which obliges states to respect the rights of international organizations, and Article (105), which guarantees the independence of international organizations and the freedom to carry out their activities, and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 on the Protection of Civilians in Time of War. These illegitimate laws also conflict with the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations of 1946, which guarantees the independence of international agencies and their right to provide humanitarian assistance without hindrance. These laws also violate Security Council Resolution No. (2730) issued on May 24, 2024, which obliges Israel, the occupying power, to respect and protect international institutions and the safety of humanitarian workers. They also contradict the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice issued on July 19, 2024, which confirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the Palestinian territory.