U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned the Zionist occupier in a letter that he could refer the country to the International Court of Justice if it does not repeal laws targeting the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA and return seized assets and property, according to media reports on Wednesday.
In a January 8 letter to the Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Guterres said the United Nations cannot remain indifferent to “actions taken by the Zionist occupation, which are in direct contravention of the obligations of the Zionist entity under international law. They must be reversed without delay.”
The Zionist entity’s parliament passed a law in October 2024 banning the agency from operating in the country and prohibiting officials from having contact with the agency. It then amended that law last month to ban electricity or water to UNRWA facilities. In early January, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned amendments to Zionist legislation targeting UNRWA’s operations, saying the measures “seek to further impede” the agency’s ability to carry out its mandated activities and must be repealed. “The law and its amendments are inconsistent with the status and international legal framework applicable to UNRWA and must be immediately repealed,” Guterres said in a statement, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
UNRWA operates as an integral component of the UN and is fully covered by the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN, which extends to its assets, property, officials and personnel, Guterres added.
