The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates denounced in a statement the proposal, which was approved by the Israeli cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel demolished in January the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Israel’s Defense Ministry and the Jerusalem Municipality noted that a military museum, a recruitment office, and an office for the Israeli defense minister will be built on that site.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry affirmed that the decision is a dangerous precedent whose impact directly affects the legal foundations governing the work of the United Nations and its institutions.
It underscored that UNRWA was established by a mandate of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), reflecting the permanent international responsibility regarding the Palestinian refugee issue.
Therefore, it added, any attempt to undermine the agency’s existence or alter its legal status is a violation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
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