Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called on Monday for an Arab League meeting to garner funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) after the United States’ recent decision to cut its funding for the agency.
In a meeting with Palestinian factions on the occasion of signing a “national unity” document by Lebanese and Palestinian officials, Berri stressed that this meeting is “the sole beacon of light in this dark age.”
“The US decisions... starting from the decision to move the embassy to occupied Jerusalem and ending with the cutting of funds to UNRWA, are heading towards canceling the right of return for Palestinians and ending the Palestinian cause,” Berri said.
“I have repeatedly stated that the first response is to unify the Palestinian forces in their struggle against the Israeli occupation and all these conspiracies and plots,” he further noted.
“This document is signed with the kind sponsorship of Speaker Berri,” Fathi Abu al-Urdat said in a statement on behalf of all factions, thanking him for his continuous support for the Palestinian cause at this difficult stage after Trump’s decision on Jerusalem and on halting funds to UNRWA.
“These serious decisions require a joint Palestinian-Lebanese move.
“We have also addressed many issues of interest to the Palestinian camps, and as usual he promised to follow up on these issues to solve them,” Urdat explained.
He announced their commitment to this document, “which stipulates boosting Palestinian-Lebanese and Palestinian-Palestinian relations”.
