* The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine affirms that the so-called “Peace Council” is not an authorized entity and lacks any legitimacy to discuss the Palestinian national constants. The Front considers its recent declaration calling for ending the presence of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, under the pretext of transitioning from a “relief model” to a “sustainable development model,” a suspicious and dangerous political plan aimed at eradicating the refugee issue at its root. This decision carries catastrophic consequences and will be met with all forms of rejection and resistance.
* UNRWA is an international witness to the continuation of the refugee issue and their historical right to return, enshrined in UN Resolution 194. The call to end its work aims to strip the Palestinian cause of its national and legal content and transform the refugee issue from a “historic and established right” to a “transient humanitarian file.”
* The promotion of the “sustainable development” slogan as an alternative to relief is merely a cover for imposing a political reality that bypasses the root causes of the conflict. The underlying aim is to transfer the refugee file from its binding international framework to administrative or regional arrangements subject to dubious political calculations, with the aim of removing the refugee file from the international agenda and transforming “right holders” into “residents in need of services.”
* We categorically reject the exploitation of financial deficits or the pretext of “administrative reform” to dismantle the agency or undermine its mandate. We affirm that the international community’s responsibility is to provide sufficient and sustainable funding to ensure its continuation, not to renege on its obligations or target the institution established to address the consequences of the Nakba and protect the rights of Palestinian refugees.
* The Front warns the “Peace Council” and the international community of the direct responsibility for any repercussions of these suspicious plans aimed at liquidating UNRWA or diminishing its powers. It calls on donors to provide stable financial support and international protection for the agency.
* The Popular Front, while warning of the danger of these tendencies, affirms that our people will vigorously confront these attempts aimed at erasing the right of return, and UNRWA will remain an international symbol of the world’s responsibility towards our people until we fully secure our rights.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine