Palestinian Authority cabinet leader Rami Hamdallah is calling on the international community to take deterrent and coordinated steps to protect "helpless" Palestinian civilians from "the oppression of the Israeli occupation" and force Israel to comply with the principles of international humanitarian law and human rights principles.
In a statement on Facebook, Hamdallah noted that about 80 percent of the residents of Gaza rely in one way or another on international aid. He also called for increased international aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in order to continue to provide assistance to nearly six million PA and Gaza residents and other descendants of Arabs who left Israel when the modern Jewish state was born. The PA strongly opposes the intention to abolish UNRWA, and demands that its mandate remain in force until the "right of return" of 1948 refugees and their descendants is realized.