House of Welcome Urges Goverment for Increased Palestinian Intake as UNRWA Ban Exacerbates Gaza Crisis

House of Welcome calls on the Australian government to increase the intake of Palestinians seeking safety from the ongoing conflict in Gaza and to grant longer term or permanent humanitarian visas to people seeking asylum.  

This need is now even more urgent, given that the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) passed two laws on 28 October 2024 which will ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) from coordinating and implementing its relief and humanitarian operations within Israel.  

UNRWA is the largest relief organisation for Palestinian refugees and this ban on UNRWA’s activities will have devastating and long-term consequences for the already catastrophic humanitarian situation across the Gaza Strip. The ban will make it impossible for UNRWA to conduct operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. 

House of Welcome condemns the killing of 230 UNRWA staff members since the start of the conflict. House of Welcome is gravely concerned by the current blatant disregard for humanity taking place in besieged North Gaza where the local population is at risk of starvation due to restrictions preventing the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.  

Image source: AAP / Mohammed Saber/EPA