UN agency for Palestinians rejects US call to dismantle it

GAZA CITY: The head of the United Nations organisation for Palestinian refugees on Thursday rejected a US call to dismantle the agency, saying it cannot be blamed for stalled peace efforts.

UNRWA´s commissioner general Pierre Krahenbuhl rebuffed the criticism from US envoy Jason Greenblatt during a visit to the Gaza Strip. "I unreservedly reject the accompanying narrative that suggests that somehow UNRWA is to blame for the continuation of the refugee-hood of Palestine refugees, of their growing numbers and their growing needs," he said in response to a question about Greenblatt´s comments.

"The fact that UNRWA still exists today is an illustration of the failure of the parties and the international community to resolve the issue politically, and one cannot deflect the attention onto a humanitarian organisation," he told a press conference in Gaza City.

The United States last year cut off its roughly $300 million annual donation to UNRWA, and administration officials now argue the agency has run its course. Speaking to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Greenblatt said the "UNRWA model has failed the Palestinian people."

He said it was time to hand over services assured by the UN agency to countries hosting Palestinian refugees and NGOs. He said the US had given $6 billion in aid to UNRWA since it was founded in 1949 "and yet year after year UNRWA funding fell short."

"We need to be honest about the situation. UNRWA is a bandaid and the Palestinians who use its services deserve better," said Greenblatt. More than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee their lands in the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel and they and their descendants make up the millions of Palestinians refugees across the Middle East.