Natalie Boucly

Merci H.E. Mr. Franck Gellet, Ambassador of 🇫🇷 for visiting @UNRWA Baqa’a Camp in #Jordan, hosting +130,000 #Palestine refugees. #UNRWA runs 16 schools for 14,000 students & 2 Health CentresYour genuine engagement with children, residents & shop keepers was deeply appreciated.

In my final op-ed as I end my tenure as Commissioner-General, I warn about relentless efforts to destroy UNRWA, amid growing disregard for international law. Read more in The Guardian ⬇️ theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

I am truly appreciative of Prime Minister @sanchezcastejon’s unequivocal stance & for standing firm in support of multilateralism + international law at a time when the world is questioning the essence of the United Nations Charter.

As displaced continue to arrive, @UNRWA teams are accommodating all — including children, the elderly, women & persons with disabilities. Registration is ongoing, while younger children begin adjusting to their new surroundings, keeping themselves busy despite the uncertainty.

Yet again, spiraling violence across the region is forcing thousands to flee their homes in Southern Lebanon. Today’s evacuation orders of 4 neighborhoods in Southern Beirut are creating panic & greater forced & mass displacement. As part of broader Lebanese authorities & civil society efforts, @UNRWA has opened emergency shelters for displaced people — Palestine Refugees, Lebanese & Syrians alike. Lebanon needs peace not more destruction, displacement & death.

Honored to close the Leadership Excellence and Accountability Programme (LEAP) Graduation Ceremony with H.E. Asari Hideki, Ambassador of 🇯🇵 to 🇯🇴 Grateful to 🇯🇵 for its continued support, advancing accountable leadership in the service of Palestine Refugees. @JoEmbassyJPN @unssc

During @eva_granados visit to Baqa’a Camp, we met Nurse Maysa, one of 4 community nurses supporting children with disabilities thanks to @AECID. Through early detection & family guidance, 700+ families are helping their children grow, learn + be included in communities. 🇪🇸🙏

Ayer, durante la visita de @eva_granados al Campo Baqa’a, conocí a la enfermera Maysa, una de las profesionales que apoyan a nin@s con discapacidad gracias a @CooperacionESP. Con detección temprana y trabajo con las familias, l@s nin@s crecen, aprenden y se integran mejor. 🇪🇸 🇺🇳

Insightful visit to Baqa’a Camp, Jordan, with Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation @eva_granados. The scale of needs & the impact of sustained support for #PalestineRefugees were clear from the visit of @UNRWA health & education services. Gracias España!🇪🇸

“The plug has been pulled on humanitarian services. Over the past days, utility providers have severed electricity and water one by one to UNRWA’s schools, health centres, and other service provision points across occupied #EastJerusalem. These actions come against the backdrop of the anti-UNRWA laws amended late last month by the Israeli parliament, forcing utility providers to suspend services to UNRWA. We need electricity to light up classrooms and offices, to keep life-sustaining medication cooled, and to heat buildings. We need water to keep our premises clean, and simply to wash hands. Electricity and water are among the basic preconditions of dignified healthcare and education. In October last year, the @‌CIJ_ICJ ruled that Israel has the obligation to ensure access to the essential supplies of daily life, including food, water, medical supplies and services, and to facilitate the work of UNRWA in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem where Israel is not entitled to exercise sovereignty. It further noted that the Israeli laws were impeding UNRWA’s operations. The amendments take these Israeli laws a step further. These cuts are a deliberate effort to weaponise basic necessities in the attacks by Israel – a @‌UN member state – against UNRWA, at the expense of critical services and access to fundamental rights for #Palestine Refugees. They are designed to end our longstanding presence in East Jerusalem, which in itself predates the Israeli occupation.” — @GRFriedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem

The @UN Security Council stands alone in its authority to act on behalf of all member countries on questions of peace & security. It alone adopts decisions binding on all. No other body or ad-hoc coalition can legally require all countries to comply with decisions on peace & security. Its responsibility is singular. Its obligation is universal. That is why reform is essential. That is why we must act without delay to enhance the representation & effectiveness of the Security Council.

A dark day for the @UN draws to a close in #EastJerusalem. This morning at dawn, armed Israeli security forces arrived at @UNRWA’s compound in Sheikh Jarrah. Bulldozers forcibly entered the compound shortly thereafter, immediately starting to demolish buildings inside the compound. Our offices and warehouses have been built and maintained through decades of donor support, and have served #PalestineRefugees across the occupied Palestinian territory for more than seventy years. In an act of endorsement at the highest levels, the Israeli Minister of National Security, the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, and at least two members of the Israeli Knesset joined to relish in the destruction of humanitarian infrastructure. Over the years, I have watched Israeli authorities routinely deploy demolitions of Palestinian property and homes in the West Bank with impunity, to enact changes on the ground outside of the bounds of international law. Today’s actions are unprecedented, wherein recognised UN premises are being demolished contrary to the basic obligations that govern all UN member states. These deplorable scenes of UN buildings being raised to the ground by bulldozers are a capstone to mounting hostility and attacks on UNRWA in the #oPt over the past two years. They follow amendments in December 2025 to the hostile Israeli anti-UNRWA legislation to further tighten the noose on the UN’s presence in East Jerusalem. Today’s actions surpass even the provisions of those illegal laws. In October 2025, the @CIJ_ICJ explicitly stated that Israel must refrain from undertaking any executive, administrative, judicial or legislative actions against the property and assets of the UN in the occupied Palestinian territory. Today’s actions are an open display of Israel’s disregard for international law, that has gone undeterred for too long. They also mark a fatal blow to #multilateralism, with a ripple effect for peace and security at a global scale.

Privileged to welcome 🇳🇴Minister @AsmundAukrust and Amb. @mona_juul to Amman New Camp to see @UNRWA’s vital services for the most vulnerable. In such challenging times for multilateral action, partnerships like these give hope for #PalestineRefugees. @UNRWAJFO @NorwayInJordan

We said it many times: what is happening to #UNRWA today will happen to other international organisations tomorrow. There is diminishing respect for international law; it is sad to see force over law and might over diplomacy. Is this the world we want?

Today Minister @HMcEntee visited Marka Camp in Jordan, engaging with school parliamentarians, meeting the winners of the Jordan Young Scientist Initiative & seeing firsthand the impact of @UNRWA services. Ireland is a steadfast partner, we are grateful for its continued support

Timely and thoughtful exchange today with Ambassador @mona_juul and Chargé d’Affaires Erik Berggrav. Thank you @NorwayMFA & @NorwayUN for your principled support for @UNRWA and the rights & dignity of #PalestineRefugees, grounded in international law.

Yesterday’s vote by the Israeli parliament passing new legislation against UNRWA is outrageous. It is a direct affront to the mandate granted to the Agency by the UN General Assembly and contrary to findings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which oblige Israel to fulfil its responsibilities as a UN Member State to UNRWA and the broader UN system. The legislation cuts off water, electricity, fuel, and communications from UNRWA and grants the government of Israel authority to expropriate UN properties in East Jerusalem, including UNRWA’s headquarters and its main vocational training centre. Furthermore, the bill explicitly excludes UNRWA from Israeli law enacting Israel’s obligations under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. This stands in clear violation of the State of Israel’s obligations under international law. This latest move extends the laws passed last year and implemented since January 2025 that banned UNRWA’s operations in occupied East Jerusalem and halted all contact between Israeli officials and UNRWA. The new legislation is a further blow to the multilateral system. It is part of an ongoing, systematic campaign to discredit UNRWA and thereby obstruct the core role that the Agency plays in providing human-development assistance and services to Palestine Refugees. Services which the ICJ has ruled are essential for delivering on the UN’s commitment to the rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination. In October, the ICJ restated that the State of Israel is obliged under international law to facilitate UNRWA’s operations, not hinder or prevent them. This new legislation is an unacceptable rejection of the ICJ’s findings. Israel is obliged to act within the UN framework and not take unilateral action contrary to its obligations under the UN Charter. Should Israel dispute the actions of UNRWA, it must refer the issue to the UN’s deliberative bodies and seek a decisive ruling from the ICJ. A failure to do so disrespects the procedures critical to the operation of the UN system. 🧵1/2

Thank you, Richard Gere, for your powerful voice in favour of humanity. People in Gaza have suffered for too long. #UNRWAworks to bring them essential support and provide them with hope. Across the region, @UNRWA is a lifeline for #Palestine Refugees.

Storm Byron has #Gaza in its grip. People who had already lost everything & need everything face another layer of misery.  More hardship for displaced families living in makeshift shelters with rain bringing floods, damage & additional health threats. UNRWA teams — displaced themselves — continue working to support people wherever they can. They are pumping away sewage & floodwater, clearing garbage, distributing tarpaulins, winter clothes & blankets, & providing medical care. As always, #UNRWAworks for #Palestine Refugee communities.

Yesterday's storming of @UNRWA's East Jerusalem compound by Israeli police & taking control - including by replacing the @UN flag with the Israeli one - creates a dangerous precedent.  Deliberately & blatantly disregarding obligations under the UN Charter and the Convention on Privileges & Immunities of the UN erodes international law.  This should be a wake-up call. What happens today to UNRWA can happen tomorrow to any other international organization or diplomatic mission, around the world. International law has come under increasing attack for too long. This must end.