Cairo: It is imperative for the international community to honor its commitment and provide adequate funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), a Palestinian official said on Sunday.
According to Kuwait News Agency, at a time when the UN Palestinian aid agency faces a cash flow crisis in the form of a USD 200 million budget deficit, Palestine Liberation Organization's refugee affairs department chief Dr. Ahmad Abu Holi told a pan-Arab gathering that these circumstances could trigger a major catastrophe that would undermine UNRWA's operations.
He went on to criticize the acts of "aggression" committed by Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians, condemning the international community's failure to halt what he described as mass genocide against the Palestinians and ensuring the unimpeded delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip.
Addressing a gathering of supervisors tasked with overseeing Palestinian affairs across Arab states, Egypt's Assistant Foreign Minister Mahmoud Omar emphasized the importance of UNRWA's role towards reconstruction efforts in Gaza, expressing similar disapproval of the Israeli "aggression" against the Palestinians.
Highlighting the critical juncture in which the talks are taking place, the Egyptian diplomat stated that ensuring a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was necessary, while reconstructing the Palestinian enclave was a "humanitarian and moral" obligation.