Refugee agency criticizes Israeli policy

AMMAN, Jordan, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees criticized Israeli settlement expansion and separation barrier in the occupied territories.

Commissioner-General of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Karen Koning AbuZayd, said Tuesday that ignoring Israel's expansion of settlements and extension of the separation barrier, as well as economic blockades and the "occupation generally," works against the agency's goals.

These policies in the Palestinian territories "vitiates our purpose for being there."

She was addressing a meeting of UNRWA's Advisory Commission in Amman, which includes 24 donor countries including the United States, the European Union and Japan, in addition to host countries of Palestinian refugees.

"The stark reality is that Palestinian space -- both physical and political -- is shrinking," AbuZayd said. "This space is the only foundation on which to build the stability and peace so necessary for the well-being of the people we serve."

UNRWA provides education, medical and social services to 4.5 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza.

AbuZayd said the agency will continue to operate in political tension and armed conflict, "but only to a point."

"Our staff, the refugees we serve and the Palestinian people as a whole deserve to live and work in conditions where a minimum standard of protection and security prevails," she said.