Amid Israel’s closure of UNRWA schools, Qatar’s foreign ministry has said it “considers the deprivation of children from education a new crime in the ongoing series of Israeli crimes”, Al Jazeera reports.

The statement also stressed “the need for the international community to act urgently to hold Israel accountable and oblige it to comply with international laws”.

Israel effectively banned UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, via legislation at the beginning of this year, rendering the agency unable to carry out its work in the occupied West Bank, Israel or occupied East Jerusalem.