NEW YORK, Oct 18 (KUNA) -- Kuwait Permanent Representative to the UN headquarters in New York, Ambassador Tareq Al-Banai affirmed that UNRWA was a lifeline agency serving millions of Palestinian refugees in the region and occupied Palestine.
This affirmation came following a press conference at the UN headquarters late Thursday where 123 nations reiterated support to UNRWA. This came in connection to an initiative launched Kuwait, Jordan, and Slovenia back in May to display support to UNRWA.
Ambassador Al-Banai reaffirmed a joint global commitment towards the agency, warning of dire consequences of suspending UNRWA's operations and obligations towards Palestinians.
On his part, Jordan's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Mahmoud Hmoud stressed that there was no replacement to UNRWA, which helped generations of Palestinian refugees.
He expressed his infuriation towards the Israeli occupation's efforts to hinder UNRWA including a recent push in the Israeli Knesset to formulate a law that forbid the agency from continuing its mission in occupied Palestine.
He also highlighted the report by the independent review committee on UNRWA, commending the commitment by UNRWA to implement recommendations mentioned in the document.
In the same light, the Permanent Palestinian Representative to the UN Riyad Mansour lauded UNRWA, deeming it as a success story for multifaceted joint UN cooperation.
He affirmed that all efforts would be dedicated to protect UNRWA based on the agency's resolution 194, which stated, "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible." (end) ats.gta