- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Netanyahu Upholds Trump's Push to Cut Help to UN's Palestinian Refugee Agency

© REUTERS / Abir Sultan/PoolIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) sits next to Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman (R) and Israeli Intelligence and Transportation Minister Israel Katz (L) at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem January 7, 2018
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) sits next to Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman (R) and Israeli Intelligence and Transportation Minister Israel Katz (L) at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem January 7, 2018 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has described the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as "an organization that perpetuates the Palestinian problem."

Israel's PM has supported US President Donald Trump's drive to stop funding a UN agency which provides aid to Palestinian refugees.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that he completely agrees with President Trump's "strong criticism" of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The Israeli Prime Minister suggested that the funds for UNRWA should be "gradually transferred to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees," something that he claimed would help tackle "fictitious refugees."

© REUTERS / Ibraheem Abu MustafaA Palestinian man stands next to a cart carrying a flour sack distributed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip January 3, 2018
A Palestinian man stands next to a cart carrying a flour sack distributed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip January 3, 2018 - Sputnik International
A Palestinian man stands next to a cart carrying a flour sack distributed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip January 3, 2018

Netanyahu warned against rendering aid to the "great-grandchildren of refugees, who are not refugees, but who are cared for by UNRWA." This is an absurd situation, according to him.

"UNRWA is an organization that perpetuates the problem of the Palestinian refugees. It also perpetuates the narrative of the so-called 'right of return' with the aim of eliminating the State of Israel, and therefore the UNRWA must disappear," he concluded.

Earlier this week, Hamas movement spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that the threats made by Trump to halt assistance to UNRWA are just "cheap political extortion."

READ MORE: Israel Furious, Palestine Gleeful as UN Approves Resolution on Jerusalem

On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his Twitter page that Palestine was "no longer willing to talk peace" with Israel, and questioned the issue of giving "hundreds of millions" in aid payments to Palestine to force the warring parties to resume negotiations.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала