Paris/PNN / 

Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Head of the Department of Refugee Affairs, Ahmed Abu Holi, warned of Israel’s decision to ban the work of UNRWA and the disastrous consequences of this decision on Palestinian refugees, calling for urgent and comprehensive international action to protect Palestinian refugees and ensure the continuation of services provided by the international agency that was established specifically to care for them.

This came during a series of meetings held by the Palestinian delegation headed by Abu Holi with representatives of the French leftist parties in Parliament. The delegation included the Palestinian Ambassador to France, Hala Abu Hasira, the official for international relations in the Department of Refugee Affairs, Mai Odeh, and the official for parliamentary affairs at the Embassy of the State of Palestine in France, Muhannad Masoudi.

The delegation met with the Secretary-General of the French Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, the General Coordinator of the France Insoumise Party, Manuel Bompard, a delegation from the Green Party headed by Senator Raymond Poncet-Monge, and the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper L'Humanité, the mouthpiece of the French Communist Party, Senator Fabien Guy.

During the meetings, Abu Holi called for urgent intervention through effective and strong pressure on Israel to stop the genocide it is committing against our people in Gaza Strip, and to stop the systematic violations and terrorism of the settlers in West Bank, especially in the occupied city of Jerusalem, which is being subjected to an unprecedented Judaization plan aimed at emptying it of its Palestinian citizens.

Abu Holi expressed his thanks to UNESCO after its overwhelming decision to support the continuation of UNRWA's educational activities in the occupied Palestinian territories and its work, considering the decision a victory for refugee rights and international law.    

He commended the report of the "UNRWA Independent Review Committee" headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, which confirmed that there was no evidence of UNRWA's involvement in the events of October 7, and that it is indispensable and irreplaceable. 

He also thanked France for its financial contribution to UNRWA's budget this year, calling for political support for UNRWA and an increase in the percentage of contribution to the budget in these critical circumstances that the organization is going through. 

He expressed his thanks and appreciation to the French leftist parties for their pioneering role and continuous support for protecting our people, their solidarity with the Palestinian cause, and their standing by our people in their legitimate national demands.He expressed his thanks and appreciation to the French leftist parties for their pioneering role and continuous support for protecting our people, their solidarity with the Palestinian cause, and their standing by our people in their legitimate national demands.   It condemned the brutal attacks and crimes of the occupation forces and settler gangs against our people in Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, stressing its adherence to international law and commitment to the two-state solution, and its full support for the work of UNRWA and its complete readiness to cooperate and coordinate with the Palestinian side in order to take concept steps and urgent movements in the face of the fierce Israeli campaign against the UN agency and the rights of refugees.