The Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, said he was determined to draw up a plan to end the work of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jerusalem. Barkat confirmed that he had instructed the municipality’s specialized staff to prepare the plan for submission to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for approval. “We will close UNRWA schools and allow better choice (for people),” he said. “We will replace their failed welfare services with our plan.” Barkat described UNRWA as a foreign and unnecessary body, which failed dramatically and hindered progress in the city. “The goal is to remove the factor that impedes the continued development of Jerusalem ... We want to end the attitude towards them as refugees and see them as residents,” he said. He also claimed that removing UNRWA from Jerusalem “will reduce incitement and terrorism and improve services.” UNRWA operates the Shuafat refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, the only camp in the city, with a population of more than 20,000. The agency has five schools in Jerusalem, in addition to a central medical center. The Israeli decision to end UNRWA’s work in Jerusalem came days after the United States decided to completely halt its funding to the international body. The US intends to end UNRWA’s work, within a plan to revoke the right of return and recognize only 40,000 refugees who remained alive from some 700,000 who left their villages in 1948, rejecting UNRWA’s figures of more than 5 million refugees. UNRWA was established in 1948 by a UN resolution. The PLO said that only the UN could cancel the organization’s mandate. UNRWA Spokesman Sami Mushaashah said that his administration did not receive any notification regarding the termination of their presence in the city of Jerusalem. “The agency asserts that its schools and other vital services in the holy city are still working,” he stressed.