No more time to waste in Palestinian-Israeli conflict — Judeh

AMMAN — Jordan will not spare any efforts to achieve a two-state solution to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and arrive at comprehensive peace in the region, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said Monday.

In an address delivered on his behalf by the ministry’s secretary general, Mohammad Tayseer Bani Yassin, at the opening of the UNRWA advisory commission’s meetings in Amman, Judeh said there is no room for wasting more time. 

The alternative to peace will be more conflict, whose price will be paid by all parties, the minister warned.

Noting that Jordan has demanded that Israel stop all unilateral measures threatening peace negotiations, Judeh said Jerusalem is a red line, stressing the Hashemites’ efforts to safeguard it as custodian of Islamic and Christian sites there.

He underscored the role of UNRWA and the services it provides to more than 5 million Palestinian refugees in the fields of health, education and social care, besides financing small projects, noting that the international body and its services attest to the just cause of the Palestinians. 

As Jordan hosts 42 per cent of the total number of Palestinian refugees, Judeh called on UNRWA to increase its budget earmarked for Jordan, stressing the Kingdom’s support for the agency’s services.   

UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl thanked Jordan for hosting the commission’s meetings, highlighting the difficulties facing the agency in maintaining the same level of services. 

He also highlighted the challenges facing the agency in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, including land confiscation and restrictions imposed on the Palestinians there, urging Israel to stop acts of collective punishment. 

These measures, besides the crisis in Syria, have exacerbated
UNRWA’s financial burdens, Krähenbühl said.

During a closed-door meeting that was held at the end of the session, participants discussed ways to face challenges and financial difficulties, and examined proposals to forge ahead with financial reforms related to the health and education sectors. 

Tasked with advising and assisting the commissioner general of
UNRWA in carrying out the agency’s mandate, the advisory commission is currently made up of 25 members and three observers.

Later on Monday, Krähenbühl launched an emergency aid appeal for $27 million to assist Palestinian refugees in Syria during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin in late June, according to the lunar calendar.

Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn until sunset during Ramadan.

There are around 400,000 registered Palestinian refugees in Syria.