Norway slams lawsuit against UN agency for Palestinian refugees

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) – Norway on Thursday strongly opposed the Israeli-initiated lawsuit against the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA), warning that the accusations against some individuals coincide with “a politically motivated campaign aimed at weakening the agency.”

“We strongly oppose the attack on UNRWA and their staff, including the Norwegian diplomat who previously served as Deputy Commissioner-General of the agency,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement.

Eide's announcement came after families of Israeli hostages in Gaza filed a lawsuit against the UNRWA in a US federal court in New York on Monday, claiming that the aid agency helped finance Hamas by paying employees in US dollars.

The foreign minister reiterated its support for the aid agency, recalling that UNRWA, mandated by the UN General Assembly, was established to meet the basic needs of Palestinian refugees until a political solution was found.

The UN agency that provides emergency aid, health care, and education to Palestinian refugees, "who have been severely affected by war and conflict for 75 years, is fundamental in our world order based on international law," he added.

“Norway will continue to stand up for UNRWA and support their work,” Eide said, adding, “UNRWA is the backbone of humanitarian efforts in Gaza.”

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini accused Tel Aviv earlier this year of having a "long-term political goal" of "destroying" the UN aid agency, as well as the belief that Palestinians are refugees with the right to return home one day, the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported.

“At the moment, we are dealing with an expanded, concentrated Israeli campaign, which is aimed at destroying UNRWA,” said Lazzarini.

Since Israel launched war on Gaza on Oct. 7 more than 37,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 86,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly 200 UNRWA staff members have also been killed, according to Norwegian authorities.

Almost nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.