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Analysts and experts believe that the suspension of some countries’ funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) aims to end the idea of ​​the right of return, continue the ethnic cleansing plan implemented by Israel in the Gaza Strip, and divert the world’s attention from the decision of the International Court of Justice, which suggested that Israel committed the crime of genocide against Palestinians.

16 countries, led by the United States, announced the suspension of their support for the agency, despite mounting warnings of catastrophic repercussions of the collapse of the agency’s work.

On the other hand, the agency confirmed that decisions to suspend funding were issued, even though it had not received an official letter from Israel regarding allegations of the involvement of some of its employees in the events of last October 7.

Betrayal by donors

Commenting on these developments, former UNRWA spokesman Chris Gans said that what is happening is “a betrayal by donors to the agency, which employs 13,000 of the most qualified personnel in Gaza.”

During his participation in the program “Gaza... What Next?”, Gans said that the countries that suspended the agency’s funding “subjected to the Israeli-American agenda, because they did not wait for the results of investigations into Israel’s allegations.”

Accordingly, Gans believes that what is happening against UNRWA is completely in line with the call of the fascist Israeli right, which demands the complete destruction of Gaza, adding that “Israel believes that destroying UNRWA means eliminating the idea of ​​the existence of refugees, and what America and Israel want is “crazy.”

Consistent with the policy of ethnic cleansing

Almost the same opinion was held by Benjamin Friedman, professor of international security at George Washington University, who said that what is happening with UNRWA “is consistent with the cleansing policy practiced by Israel in Gaza,” indicating that the Israelis have “a bad relationship with UNRWA, and they want to get rid of it.”

Friedman said that the American position is not surprising “because the Joe Biden administration does not want to antagonize or oppose Israel even in this regard.”

On the contrary, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, believes that what is happening “is part of a clear, major American-Israeli conspiracy that began as soon as the International Court of Justice’s decision was issued to withdraw the world’s attention from the crime committed by Israel.”

Barghouti said that the destruction of UNRWA "is not new," noting that Washington tried to liquidate this agency in every way in 1994 under the pretext that it was no longer important after the signing of the "Oslo" agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

According to Barghouti, Washington and Tel Aviv do not only want to liquidate UNRWA, “but to liquidate the entire refugee issue, cancel the right of return of 7 million Palestinian refugees, and destroy the components of any international institution that serves the Palestinians.”

Accordingly, Al-Barghouti believes that striking the agency “is part of a conspiracy aimed primarily at attacking the Palestinian cause and enabling ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.”

On the other hand, Friedman believes that the Biden administration and the Democrats do not want to stop funding the agency, while some members of Congress are trying to exploit these accusations to stop funding it, which will become clear in the next budget, adding, “I do not think that the Biden administration supports the idea of ​​replacing the agency, and the fear is that the administration will do so.” "Republic."

Biden is no different from Trump

But Al-Barghouti believes that “the Biden administration does not differ with the Donald Trump administration regarding Palestine, because it has used its years of rule in trying to expand normalization agreements at the expense of the Palestinians.”

Barghouti stressed that the entire region faces the risk of explosion, “and this is what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has not abandoned the idea of ​​cleansing, wants,” saying that the United States “if it had not been conspiring with Israel, would have ordered it to stop the war immediately, but it is not doing so.”

For his part, Friedman expressed his belief that the only solution to defuse the danger in the region is for the United States to stop the ongoing war in Gaza on the one hand, and to withdraw its forces from Syria and Iraq, and all areas where they are an easy target for militias supported by Tehran, so that the matter does not come to a The outbreak of a direct American-Iranian war, according to him.

Source: Al Jazeera