Greens condemn Israeli ban on UNRWA aid

Today in Parliament, Abigail gave notice of a motion condemning Israel's ongoing genocidal ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and endorsing UN demands for Israel to permit UNRWA operations and life-saving aid.

Abigail said:

I give notice that on the next sitting day I will move: 

(1) That this House notes that:

  • in the last two weeks, the Israeli parliament has passed legislation which will make it impossible for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to obtain any entrance permits to continue providing aid in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, both of which are under Israeli control, by prohibiting UNRWA from operating within Israel’s borders and preventing any contact with Israeli officials, 
  • UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to protect and provide aid to Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homes after the 1948 Nakba. In the past 70 years, the agency has provided critical education, healthcare, social services and emergency relief to over six million Palestinians, and today operates in Gaza and the West Bank as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and 
  • United Nations officials have condemned Israel’s actions as “nothing less than collective punishment” and warned that famine is imminent in Gaza as aid deliveries will grind to a halt without UNRWA, with Northern Gaza now entering the fifth week without food, water and medicine. 

(2) That this House:

  • condemns Israel’s ongoing and relentless genocidal campaign of collective punishment, orchestrated starvation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and continued refusal to ceasefire, 
  • recognises the critical and irreplaceable role of UNRWA and its workers, hundreds of whom have been killed by Israeli strikes in the last year while providing life-saving relief to Palestinian civilians, and 
  • unequivocally endorses the UN’s demands that the Israeli Government continue allowing UNRWA to operate in accordance with Israel’s obligations under international law, and calls on the NSW and Australian Governments to do the same. 

 

12 November 2024

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