On World Refugee Day on Thursday, Palestinian refugees expressed their hope that India would continue to support and strengthen the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), consolidating its presence and role in serving refugees.
On the occasion, in a statement released by Dr Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer, Media Adviser at the Embassy of Palestine in New Delhi, they also called on the world to fulfil its responsibilities to stop the aggression against Palestinians.
According to a communique, they have accused the Israeli occupation of continuing the ethnic cleansing and displacement policy against the Palestinian people for 76 years in a row.
Palestinians have pointed out that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was established in 1949 for the relief and employment of Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to provide humanitarian relief to more than 700 thousand Palestinian refugees who were forced to flee their homes.
According to UNRWA’s estimates for the year 2020, the number of their refugees amounted to about 6.4 million, including 2 million in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, spread across over 58 refugee camps in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and the West Bank.
Following the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip after October 7, 2023, more than 1.9 million Palestinians were displaced from their homes, the Palestinians have claimed.
Palestine refugees represent 70 per cent of Gaza’s population, they said.
It has been alleged that by targeting Palestinian refugees, the Israeli occupation seeks to target and liquidate UNRWA and limit its work.
UNRWA is considered the backbone for providing humanitarian assistance to the population in Gaza Strip, the statement read.