Ireland has been an active and committed supporter of UNRWA and its activities for many years. As part of Ireland’s overall support to the people of Palestine, €58 million has been provided to UNRWA between 2023 and 2025. This includes €20 million to UNRWA committed by me in February this year, which supports UNRWA’s programmes in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
I am gravely concerned about the implementation of recent Israeli legislation, which is having far-reaching consequences for UNRWA’s operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Gaza. It was partly for this reason that Ireland and a core group of States took the initiative at the United Nations to ask the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on the legal issues raised by Israel’s treatment of UNRWA and other United Nations agencies and programmes in the OPT.
In ICJ Advisory Opinion cases, proceedings consist of written and oral phases. States may make written or oral statements to the Court, or both. In the present case, Ireland submitted a detailed statement in writing on 28 February, which focused on the work of UNRWA in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
That statement sets out Ireland’s grave concerns about the implementation of recently enacted Israeli legislation, which is having far-reaching consequences for UNRWA’s operations in the OPT. Ireland argues that Israel’s legal obligations – both as an occupying power under international humanitarian law, and as a member of the United Nations and a party to the General Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN – require it to cooperate with and facilitate relevant UN agencies and programmes in the provision of essential humanitarian assistance and services to the Palestinian civilian population in the OPT, in particular those of UNRWA, a subsidiary organ of the United Nations.
There is no realistic alternative to UNRWA and we support UNRWA’s intention to stay and deliver. I urge the Israeli authorities to repeal these measures. UNRWA has a mandate from the UN General Assembly. Its work is essential and irreplaceable for millions of Palestinian refugees in the region, and particularly in the current context in Gaza and the West Bank.
