UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES
Revenues derived from Palestine refugees' properties
Report of the Secretary-General
1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 48/40 G of 10 December 1993, entitled "Revenues derived from Palestine refugees' properties", the operative paragraphs of which read as follows:
"The General Assembly
"…
"1. Requests the Secretary-General to take all appropriate steps, in consultation with the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, for the protection of Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel and to establish a fund for the receipt of income derived therefrom, on behalf of the rightful owners;
"2. Calls once more upon Israel to render all facilities and assistance to the Secretary-General in the implementation of the present resolution;
"3. Calls upon the Governments of all the other Member States concerned to provide the Secretary-General with any pertinent information in their possession concerning Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel which would assist the Secretary-General in the implementation of the present resolution;
"4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution."
2. On 27 July 1994, the Secretary-General transmitted to the Government of Israel the text of General Assembly resolutions 48/40 A to J of 10 December 1993, with the request that it inform him by 15 August 1994 of any steps it had taken or envisaged taking in implementation of the relevant provisions of the resolutions.
3. Also on 27 July 1994, the Secretary-General sent a note verbale to all other Member States, drawing their attention to the relevant provisions of resolutions 48/40 A to J, including paragraph 3 of resolution 48/40 G, and requesting information by 25 August 1994 concerning any action taken or envisaged in relation to their implementation.
4. A reply dated 27 July 1994 was received from Israel, covering various aspects of resolutions 48/40 A to J. The text reads as follows:
"Israel's position on these resolutions has been set forth in successive annual replies submitted to the Secretary-General in recent years, the latest of which being Israel's note verbale dated 15 June 1993. In addition, Israel's representative to the Special Political and Decolonization Committee reiterated Israel's position in his statement dated 8 December 1993 in which he said, inter alia, 'The series of resolutions on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) ignores the new political reality following the agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), as well as the bilateral and multilateral negotiations.' Accordingly, Israel abstained on resolutions 48/40 A and D, and voted against resolutions 48/40 E-J.
"It should be noted that, in the past year, major progress has been achieved in the framework of the peace process, including the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements signed at Washington, D.C. on 13 September 1993 by Israel and the PLO, and the subsequent Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, signed at Cairo on 4 May 1994. Israel believes that UNRWA can play an important role in promoting the social and economic advancement foreseen in the agreements between Israel and the PLO, and accordingly looks forward to continuing the cooperation and good working relationship with UNRWA.
"In the light of the above, Israel considers it essential, now more than ever, that the General Assembly focus its resolutions regarding UNRWA on the issues directly related to the agency's humanitarian tasks and that it refrain from adopting resolutions related to political issues irrelevant to the work for which UNRWA is responsible, and detached from the new reality.
"To this end, it would be advisable to consolidate the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly regarding UNRWA into one resolution. This would also be compatible with the necessity to rationalize the work of the General Assembly."
5. The Government of Norway, in a note verbale of 15 September 1994, indicated that Norway was not in possession of any pertinent information relevant to the item.
