Date: July 22, 2025
Calls for the release of Palestinian funds by the occupation and the establishment of an Arab financial safety net
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Ahmed Abu Houli, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), called for the urgent formulation of a diplomatic, political, and legal plan to halt the genocidal war and the targeting of holy sites. He urged a serious and responsible stance toward what is happening in the Palestinian territories, including the desecration of Islamic and Christian holy places and the settlers’ attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In his speech before the Arab League Council at its extraordinary session, held today (Tuesday) at the request of the State of Palestine due to the catastrophic conditions in Gaza and the attacks on sacred sites, Abu Houli stated that this session must rise to the level of the current challenges and dangers. "Words are meaningless, and speeches will not stop genocide, forced displacement, and ethnic cleansing," he said. He added that Gaza is dying of hunger and is being prepared for forced displacement under the guise of creating a so-called humanitarian city—“a city of death and a new prison”—marketed with humanitarian rhetoric.
He explained that the Israeli occupation seeks to replace UNRWA—which provided humanitarian aid to 1.6 million refugees in Gaza—with a so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” which in reality causes the deaths of hundreds and injures thousands daily by leading people into death traps. He stressed the urgent need to act by all means and exert pressure on the occupying power and its supporters to halt the aggression, allow immediate entry of aid and relief, and begin reconstruction. The Palestinian people, he affirmed, look to their Arab, Islamic, and humanitarian depth for support.
Abu Houli presented the tragic situation in Gaza, which is suffering from an ongoing genocidal war and ethnic cleansing campaign waged by the Israeli occupation. This has led to the near-total destruction of the Strip and hundreds of thousands of victims—killed, injured, or displaced. He also highlighted the continued Israeli aggression in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and the increasing terrorist attacks by settler militias on Palestinian towns and villages, carried out with full protection and participation of the Israeli army. He warned that Gaza’s population is facing the threat of famine due to Israel's blockade and its prevention of aid entry, cautioning of a real humanitarian disaster and mass deaths from hunger caused by the continued siege and denial of basic food and supplies.
He emphasized that peace in the region and the world cannot be achieved without a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue—one that ensures the end of occupation and the Palestinian people's full legitimate rights to freedom, statehood, and independence.
The Executive Committee member also condemned the Israeli authorities’ decision to transfer oversight of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron from the city’s municipality to the so-called “religious council,” describing it as a blatant attack on the historical, religious, and legal rights of the Palestinian people—a fully-fledged crime within the broader context of Judaizing Islamic holy sites. He said this is part of a systematic plan led by a government governed by racist and extremist coalitions, aiming to impose forced Jewish sovereignty over Islamic places of worship as part of a broader ethnic cleansing policy.
He further explained that the occupation continues to target the Al-Aqsa Mosque daily and around the clock, attacking worshippers. The situation has gone beyond time-based and space-based division; now, even worshippers themselves are under physical assault. He noted that all institutions in Jerusalem have been shut down, including UNRWA schools and its headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah, and that international staff—headed by Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini—have been denied entry into Palestine.
Abu Houli stated that Israel has made a decision to eliminate UNRWA entirely, with plans to ensure it no longer exists following the war of extermination. UNRWA has been militarily targeted in Gaza, where over 80% of its facilities have been destroyed and 330 of its humanitarian staff have been killed. Additionally, discriminatory laws have been enacted to prevent its operation in Jerusalem. He called for immediate political and financial support for UNRWA, which is currently facing a severe crisis that threatens its very existence.
He also demanded pressure on the occupying state to release the funds owed to the Palestinian people. He condemned the Israeli government's piracy of Palestinian funds, accusing a single figure—Israel's Finance Minister—of defying the world and seizing millions of shekels and dollars with the aim of choking the Palestinian Authority and collapsing its institutions. Abu Houli reiterated the urgent need for the implementation of a $100 million financial safety net for the Palestinian government.
