Netanyahu calls for dismantling of UNRWA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the dismantling of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which aids millions of Palestinian refugees across the region.

In public remarks to his cabinet at its weekly meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu accused UNRWA of anti-Israeli incitement, which, he said, was rife in institutions, including schools, run by the agency.

"It is time UNRWA be dismantled and merged with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees," the Israeli premier said.

Netanyahu said UNRWA had perpetuated, rather than solved, the Palestinian refugee problem, adding that he had conveyed his message to Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations.

Referring to a meeting he held in the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds on Wednesday with Haley, Netanyahu said, "I told her it was time the United Nations re-examine UNRWA's existence."