RESTRICTION SUMMARY: Gaza- 20 September 2021. Palestinians attend a press conference, in front of the UNESCO headquarters.

0.1 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Maher Mezher, head of the Popular Committee in the Popular Front
0.2 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Walid Al-Awad, a leader in the People's Party

STORYLINE:

The Follow-up Committee of the National and Islamic Forces published a letter on Monday addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in which it expressed the objections to the agreement with the US.

Hamas, has rejected the framework agreement signed between the United States and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) regarding the restoration of US funding for the agency.

The movement said that it refuses to sign conditional agreements which empty UNRWA and its mandate of its content, and expose the refugee issue to "grave danger". Moreover, it stressed that it also refuses to take any measures against UNRWA employees or beneficiaries as stipulated in the agreement.

"The United States wants to provide a service to the Israeli occupation by liquidating the refugee issue, the core of the Palestinian cause and UNRWA, through financial extortion," explained Hamas. The agreement, it insisted, contradicts UNRWA's mandate as well as international law and international humanitarian law, turning the agency into a political-security tool in the hands of a foreign country.


Footage by/ APAwire