NEW YORK, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has warned Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu that he could take Israel to the International Court of Justice if it does not repeal laws targeting UNRWA and return its seized assets and property.
In a January 8 letter to Netanyahu, Guterres said the UN cannot remain indifferent to “actions taken by Israel, which are in direct contravention of the obligations of Israel under international law. They must be reversed without delay.”
Israel’s Knesset passed a law in October 2024 banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and prohibiting Israeli officials from having contact with the agency. It then amended the law last month to ban electricity or water to UNRWA facilities.
The Israeli occupation authority also seized UNRWA’s Jerusalem offices last month.
The UN considers east Jerusalem occupied by Israel. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be part of the Jewish state.
Guterres said that UNRWA is “an integral part of the United Nations,” and highlighted that “Israel remains under an obligation to accord UNRWA and its personnel the privileges and immunities specified in the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN.”
The convention states that “the premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable.”
