Josep Borrell has emphasized in a post on X, the EU’s support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Calling UNRWA a lifeline for 5.9m Palestinian refugees and a cornerstone of regional stability, the EU Foreign Policy Chief stated that increasing funding is more crucial than [ever], to maintain vital services.

“As the top donor with €500m annually, count on the EU’s unwavering support,” he added.

Borrell’s remarks came a pledge conference, meant to raise funds and encourage donors, for the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) took place at UN headquarters in New York City in the US.

Speaking at the UNWRA pledging conference, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, noted “Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse in Gaza, somehow, appallingly, Palestinian civilians are being pushed into ever deeper circles of hell.”

“Palestinians in Gaza keep being forced to move like human pinballs. Nowhere is safe. Everywhere is a potential killing zone,” Guterres averred.

Hwe asserted that it is time for the parties to show the political courage and political will to finally reach a ceasefire deal.

“Nothing justifies the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7. And nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Palestinians are enduring the deadliest period since UNWRA’s creation.

“And we are all painfully aware UNWRA colleagues have not been spared, where 195 staff members have been killed, the highest staff death toll in UN history. Staff have also been subjected to increasingly violent protests and disinformation campaigns.”
Josep Borrell

Guterres added, “Yet despite these and other obstacles, in impossible conditions, and in the middle of their own grief, the women and men of UNWRA have bravely continued their work in whatever way they can.”

He expressed gratitude to those who pledged support and appealed to everyone to “protect UNWRA, protect UNWRA staff, and protect UNWRA’s mandates, including through funding.”

Amnesty International Calls For Ceasefire

Amnesty International said in a new statement, “A ceasefire by all parties is the most urgent step to alleviate mass suffering, prevent further loss of life, and ensure the protection of all civilians.”

The group also called on Hamas and other armed groups to “immediately release civilians held hostage in Gaza”, as families of captives demonstrate today in Israel.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said, “Hostage-taking is a war crime. Those still alive have spent over nine months now held hostage, away from their loved ones. There can be no justification for inflicting such trauma and anguish on them and their families.”

Earlier on Friday, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that its negotiating team, led by the Mossad Intelligence Chief, David Barnea, had returned to Israel after talks with mediators in Doha.

Speaking after the team’s return, Netanyahu said that Israel needed control of the Palestinian side of Gaza’s border with Egypt to stop weapons reaching Hamas.

It is a condition that conflicts with Hamas’s position that Israel must withdraw from all Gaza territory after a ceasefire.

A senior Hamas official has blamed Israel for a failure to build on momentum created when the group dropped a key demand in the US-drafted ceasefire offer a week ago to clear the way for a deal.

“Israel hasn’t made a clear stance over Hamas proposal. After discussion with the mediators in Doha, Qatar, Israel told them the delegation would go back for consultation with the Israeli government,” the official, who asked not to be named, told a news agency.

“There is an attempt at stalling and wasting time,” the official said.