United Nations, April 18.- The United Nations Security Council will resume the crisis in Gaza today amid rising tensions in the Middle East and worsening conditions for civilians in the enclave.
The meeting, of a ministerial nature, will also analyze the lack of access for humanitarian aid as well as the need for a ceasefire that leads to the definitive cessation of hostilities, a demand approved by the Council and ignored by Israel.
The program disclosed here foresees the presence at the meeting of the Secretary General, António Guterres, and the Foreign Ministers of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian; Malta, Ian Borg; Spain, José Manuel Albares; and Algeria, Ahmed Attaf.
The situation in the Middle East was the focus of the most recent Council meeting, on Wednesday, in which the commissioner general of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, asked for support to continue the work of the organization.
The representative called UNRWA a stabilizing force for humanitarian work as famine spreads in Gaza, and Israel continues its campaign to expel it from the occupied territories.
Lazzarini recalled that the organization supports more than two million Gazans displaced and affected by the conflict.
UNRWA, he said, is firmly committed to implementing any recommendations to strengthen neutrality safeguards but warned that dismantling would have lasting repercussions on an entire generation.
Palestinians and Israelis share a long history of pain and loss; We must recognize that they equally deserve a peaceful and secure future, added the United Nations envoy.
For his part, the special representative of the president of Palestine at the meeting, Ziad Abu Amr, thanked the work of those who bring critical aid to civilians in Gaza while recalling that this work faces obstacles such as the ground invasion and airstrikes of Israel.
“We salute their bravery and dedication in carrying out this noble humanitarian mission, risking their own lives to provide relief to our people,” he said.
The agency is not a mere humanitarian project, the envoy added, recalling that it is a historical witness of the commitment and obligation of the international community with respect to Palestinian refugees forced to abandon their homes after 1948. (Text and photo: PL)
