UNRWA warns of far-reaching consequences if Israel goes ahead with closure

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says that if Israel carries out its threat to close its east Jerusalem headquarters on Thursday, the outsize effects will be felt acutely and immediately by tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The agency, known as UNRWA, runs 12 facilities that provide critical public services across east Jerusalem, including schools enrolling at least 1,200 children and free clinics serving over 70,000 people.

That's the thing, it has an impact on people's lives, Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said of the potential closure.

In the Shuafat refugee camp, an impoverished neighbourhood, people today can walk just a few metres and they're in an excellent clinic, Touma said. But if it's shuttered, she said, tens of thousands of Palestinians would have to cross a difficult checkpoint, pay for transport and, even if they're eligible for Israeli primary health care, also pay for medicine in order to see a doctor or get a blood test.

We're talking about the poorest of the poor, Touma said. Right now, they have no alternative.

The closure of UNRWA schools would raise all sorts of problems given that there are already too few classrooms in the overcrowded Palestinian areas of east Jerusalem, she said.

Touma said much remains unclear about the Israeli order, including whether the closure would apply to operations in east Jerusalem only or to the entirety of the Palestinian territories.

Israel says the agency has allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the UN.