Ashraf AboArafe
Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Yamahi, President of the Arab Parliament, strongly condemned the provocative raid carried out by Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister of National Security in Israel’s extremist government, on the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied Jerusalem.
Al Yamahi denounced the incident in the strongest terms, stressing that the forcible removal of the United Nations flag and the hoisting of the occupation’s flag over premises protected by international immunity constitutes an unacceptable act of aggression in every sense. He described the move as a grave violation of international law and a blatant breach of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, directly undermining the standing of the UN and its institutions. The incident, he added, once again exposes the occupation’s contempt for all relevant international legitimacy resolutions—foremost among them those affirming the illegality of any Israeli measures aimed at altering the legal and historical status quo of Jerusalem.
The President of the Arab Parliament further warned that this escalation is part of a systematic Israeli plan to dismantle UNRWA and terminate its humanitarian and political role, through direct attacks on its facilities and the enactment of unlawful legislation to seize them. Such actions, he said, represent a dangerous attempt to erase the Palestinian refugee issue, deny their inalienable right of return, and impose a reality of forced displacement on the Palestinian people. He held the occupying power fully responsible for this blatant assault and its serious repercussions, cautioning that continued international silence and the absence of deterrent measures have emboldened the occupation government to persist in its violations—shifting from breaching international law to openly defying it.
Al Yamahi called on the international community, the United Nations, and its institutions to take immediate and decisive action that goes beyond statements of condemnation, translating into concrete deterrent measures. These include imposing clear sanctions on the occupying power, compelling it to comply with its legal obligations, and ensuring that UNRWA can carry out its mandate in accordance with its UN authorization—consistent with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice regarding the occupying power’s obligations toward UN bodies.
He concluded by reaffirming that Jerusalem will remain Arab and Palestinian, and that all attempts by the occupation to impose sovereignty over the city by force are doomed to fail and will never alter the city’s deeply rooted historical and legal truth.
