Protests in the Gaza Strip have intensified against measures adopted by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees to cut its services to refugees and to dismiss dozens of its employees in the sector.
More than 2,000 Palestinians took part in a protest on Tuesday, the largest since the start of demonstrations against UNRWA’s recent policies. Participants raised banners calling for more pressure on the agency to stop its actions.
Representatives of factions and national forces, dignitaries, mukhtars, UNRWA staff, and school students participated in the protest.
Hussein Mansour, a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), called on the agency’ administration to reverse its actions against the refugees.
Mansour accused UNRWA of rejecting the solutions presented to it to solve the problem of the employees and failing to take action to lay off dozens of foreign advisers who receive large sums of money from the agency.
The head of the union of Arab staff at UNRWA, Youssef Hamdouneh, described as “alarming” the international agency’s recent measures to dismiss employees, close down supply centers and warn that the new academic year would not start on time.
He stressed in a speech that he would not allow the implementation of a decision to dismiss 956 employees who were recruited under an emergency program. He also accused UNRWA of attempting to spread rumors among Palestinian officials and refugees about the closure of the regional office in Gaza, with the aim of threatening staff to retreat from their peaceful sit-in in the building.
These moves came in the wake of statements made by UNRWA Director Matthias Schmale, who said that there were no solutions so far to the financial crisis facing the agency. Schmale pointed out that the new academic season might not start on time if the financial deficit is not resolved. He also noted that various international movements were underway in an attempt to save the current situation after the United States stopped supporting UNRWA’s general budget.
