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Featured image: Nir Barkat, the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Israel’s Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat has threatened to end the work of the UN Refuge Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the holy city, Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday.

The paper said that it was

“the first public statement by an Israeli official that called on the [Israeli] government to use its power to shut down the agency that services Palestinian refugees.”

Barakat said:

UNRWA is a foreign and unnecessary organisation that has failed miserably. I intend to expel it from Jerusalem.

He was speaking at a conference sponsored by Channel 2 held in Jerusalem. He said he had already instructed his municipal staff to come up with a plan to replace UNRWA.

UNRWA spokesman Sami Mshasha stressing that the organsiation’s work is still continuing in Jerusalem.

He said that the UNRWA offers services to thousands of Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, running schools, health centres and aid distribution programmes.