CANBERRA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has condemned Israel's move to restrict the work of a United Nations (UN) aid agency for Palestinians.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong on Tuesday said that Australia opposes laws passed by Israel's Knesset designating the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization and banning it from the country within 90 days,
"UNRWA does life-saving work. Australia opposes the Israeli Knesset's decision to severely restrict UNRWA's work. On Sunday, Australia joined Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the UK (Britain) to urge Israel's Knesset not to proceed with this legislation," Wong said in a statement posted on social media.
Sunday's joint statement said that, without the work of the UNRWA, the provision of essential and life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the broader region would be severely hampered if not impossible.
Wong on Tuesday reiterated Australia's call for Israel to comply with the binding orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale in Gaza. ■