GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA will cut off access to education for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children, leaving them vulnerable to “hopelessness, poverty and radicalization”, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Sunday.
The warning from Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency, comes after the Israeli Knesset passed two bills banning UNRWA on Monday. The first bill effectively halts the agency’s activities within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, while the second prohibits any interaction between Israeli institutions and the organization.
But the most immediate impact will be on Palestinian children’s education, Lazzarini said in a post on X. “Until October last year, UNRWA provided learning to over 300,000 boys and girls in Gaza, making half of the schoolchildren cohort. They are now losing a second year of education.”
Without an alternative, Israel’s decision to dismantle the agency “will deprive Palestinian children of learning in the foreseeable future”, he said. And without learning, “children slip into hopelessness, poverty and radicalization” and fall prey to exploitation, “including joining armed groups.”
Israel’s actions against UNRWA come as it continues a weeks-long siege of northern Gaza that has already killed hundreds and displaced thousands while preventing the entry of aid, leading to catastrophic conditions.
