Hamas slams Board of Peace for refusal to work with UNRWA in Gaza 

Palestinian group Hamas has condemned the Board of Peace’s decision not to work with the United Nations agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, and for saying that the agency will have no role in Gaza.

The US-created Board’s decision is “a complete alignment with the Zionist [Israeli] position”, aimed at ending UNRWA’s operations, preventing it from delivering aid to Palestinians and eliminating the right of return, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said on Saturday.

On Friday, the Board of Peace said that “UNRWA’s involvement in Gaza is unchanged.”

“We will only work with trusted partners who will deliver for the people of Gaza and contribute to a deradicalized Strip,” it said in a post on X, adding that “UNRWA fails on those litmus tests”.

In his statement, Qassem said it was “strange for the Peace Council to adopt this hostile stance towards UNRWA while simultaneously failing to provide aid to Gaza or compel the occupation to abide by the ceasefire agreement and halt the daily killings of Palestinians in the Strip”.

UNRWA, set up in 1949, has for decades provided aid and education services to Palestinian refugees and preserved their national rights.

Palestinians see the agency as safeguarding their right of return to their homeland, while Israel wants it dismantled.

‘UNRWA’s days are over’

The Associated Press reported on Friday that Board of Peace members had been more willing to work with UNRWA behind the scenes than their public stance suggested.

At the Board of Peace briefing to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, officials named several UN agencies as partners. UNRWA was not among them.

However, a Board of Peace official, speaking to The AP on condition of anonymity, confirmed that board members had met UNRWA officials several times.

The official said the agency’s programmes could continue if they served Gaza’s residents well, but maintained that “UNRWA’s days are over”.

Philippe Lazzarini, who led UNRWA until earlier this year, told The AP that members of the Palestinian technocratic committee appointed by the Board to govern Gaza wanted to work with the agency.

On Thursday, Lazzarini accused the Board of failing to deliver on its mandate, saying in a post on X that Israeli authorities are still blocking basic aid “as part of a wider plan to keep Gaza unlivable for Palestinians”.

“Grandiose plans is what the Board of Peace does best. Plans however will not keep the people of Gaza warm this winter,” he added, urging that crossings into Gaza be opened and supplies let in at scale.

Gaza, West Bank attacks continue

On the ground on Saturday, Israel’s pattern of violations against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank continued.

Israeli attacks killed seven Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours, including one person who succumbed to wounds sustained prior, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said.

In northern Gaza, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in Jabalia, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. An Israeli drone strike near Joulis Street and al-Nouri Tower in the Nuseirat refugee camp killed another person and wounded others.

In al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, an Israeli drone strike wounded several Palestinians, including a girl, while Israeli artillery shelled areas east of the city.

An Israeli quadcopter also opened fire on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza, wounding three people, including another girl.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces stormed Ramallah-based Birzeit University, raiding one of its buildings while students sat final examinations, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

In Tulkarem, forces arrested resident Bashar Odeh after raiding his home in Shuweika, and interrogated others during home searches in Zeita.

In Bethlehem governorate, Israeli forces closed the military gates at the entrances to western villages, stopping residents, including pedestrians, from passing.

Raids continued across other localities, including the Qalandiya and Am’ari refugee camps.