UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the member-states of the United Nations to continue their support for the World Body’s agency, UNRWA. In a statement Guterres issued, the secretary General voiced concern by the criticism leveled at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, and voiced his admiration for the role UNRWA plays in delivering essential services and protecting the rights of millions of Palestinian refugees across the Middle East. That said, the Secretary-General did not condemn a Hamas tunnel that was discovered earlier this month under an UNRWA school in the Gaza Strip, a finding that prompted a condemnation by Israel, with Prime Minister Netanyahu calling on the United Nations to consider dismantling UNRWA, an organization the Israeli leader alleged “prolongs the Palestinian refugees’ problem, rather than solves it.”
