This evening (Tuesday) the Foreign Ministry, in an usual move, made an official announcement on behalf of the State of Israel that it condemns the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for misrepresenting facts on the Kalandiya incident.
The announcement was published following the UNRWA’s condemnation over the fatal riot in Kalandiya refugee camp yesterday, which claimed that one of UNRWA’s employees was killed among the three dead.
The Foreign Ministry announcement clarified that, “Israel regrets the casualties that resulted from the military operation last night that arrested a Palestinian suspected of being involved with terrorism. A formal investigation was opened by the IDF as part of a standard procedure in cases of civilian casualties.”
“Regardless of the results of the investigation, we express our disappointment (though not surprise) that the UNRWA issued a press release about this yesterday,” added the Foreign Ministry.
It was noted that “while avoiding any mention of the relationship or reason that Israel had for its actions, the UNRWA rushed to quote ‘reliable sources’ that claimed one of its employees was shot on his way to work, and was uninvolved in the violent riot.
“Aside from the fact that UNRWA did not bother to check with any official Israeli source for details, it should be noted that they hastily launched an announcement in their press release even during the violent incident in Kalandiya.
“The question arises, how did the agency manage to gather evidence of the ‘criminal offenses’, crosscheck the evidence, and draw such strong conclusions within only a few hours?”
The announcement continued to say, “It’s very distressing that the UNRWA regularly fails at exhibiting the same devotion and enthusiasm when asked to investigate certain suspicions directed towards itself.”
The Foreign Ministry mentioned that “earlier this month, for example, the UNRWA was forced to confess that they acted negligently by allowing a third party to use some of its facilities to organize camps where Palestinian children were absorbing hateful and anti-Semitic sermons.
“Needless to say, the UNRWA’s halfhearted confession was issued only after a ‘lengthy and detailed investigation,’ unlike the hasty and superficial process which it has taken yesterday.”
The announcement concluded with this message:
“We, therefore, call upon the UNRWA to return to its original mission, which gives aid to the Palestinian refugees, and to refrain from one-sided propaganda.