Canberra, January 23 (RHC)-- Twenty-five Australian aid organisations, including the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), have issued a joint statement emphasising the importance of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and calling for the “swift and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid.”

The groups also highlighted the role of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, as an Israeli parliamentary ban on the organisation looms, describing it as a “devastating blow to relief efforts.”

UNRWA “plays a unique and crucial role in providing life-saving humanitarian aid and essential social services in Palestine, as well as Lebanon, Jordan and Syria,” the aid groups said in the statement.  “In Gaza, UNRWA notably plays a key role in the delivery and distribution of fuel and aid across the Strip.”

The aid groups called on the Australian government to engage diplomatically with the Israeli government and international partners to advocate for relief efforts in Gaza, including UNRWA’s continued work and “unrestricted access for international media agencies and journalists into Gaza and the West Bank.”