By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) – A top Norwegian official has reiterated strong support to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), expressing sympathy over recent attacks on the agency.
In a statement shared by Norway's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, the minister of international development, said she reiterated her country's support to the agency during a meeting in Jordan with the agency's head, Philippe Lazzarini.
"Expressed my sympathy on the tragic loss of UNRWA staff in Gaza. Attacks on the agency are unacceptable. Humanitarian workers and installations are protected under international law," she said.
In January a controversy broke out as a handful of the agency’s thousands of employees were accused of taking part in Hamas attacks on Israel. Without waiting for investigation, some countries withdrew their funding from the agency, and Israel passed measures making it harder for the agency to do its work for Palestinian refugees, despite warnings that this would cripple aid to Gaza.
Separately, Sweden on Tuesday welcomed the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution supporting a new roadmap for a cease-fire announced on May 31.
"The situation in Gaza requires an immediate ceasefire, increased humanitarian access and the release of all hostages," the Swedish Foreign Ministry said on X, quoting Monday's statement by the EU on the matter.
In its statement on Monday, the bloc said: "The EU recalls its full support to the comprehensive roadmap presented by United States President Joe Biden. We urge both parties to accept and implement the three-phase proposal."
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last October despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 37,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling 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 May 6.