NEW YORK (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Commissioner of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that Israel is seeking to end the operations of the United Nations agency, and is targeting other UN agencies as well.
Lazzarini added in press statements on Monday, “Today we are witnessing the largest Palestinian catastrophe since the Nakba,” noting that multiple attacks have targeted UNRWA and that the humanitarian agencies in Gaza have paid a heavy price.”
He pointed out that 180 UNRWA employees were martyred, and 120 facilities belonging to the UN agency were targeted since October 7 last year, saying, “We are being targeted because we protect the rights of refugees.”
“There are attempts to eliminate the agency’s work in the occupied Palestinian territories. The financial restrictions have affected the quality of our services and deepened the ordeal of the Palestinians,” he added.
The UN Commissioner stressed that “financial challenges are hindering our work, and we need more contributions to meet the challenges of the war in Gaza,” noting that the UN review confirmed that UNRWA imposed the law on all its employees.
He explained that the UN agency, before the war, provided more than 72% of health care in 12 health facilities, half of which stopped operating in the Gaza Strip, calling for supporting the agency’s role in responding to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
Lazzarini warned that “the levels of hunger throughout the Gaza Strip are catastrophic and man-made,” and that “more than 600,000 children in Gaza are suffering from trauma and are deprived of school.”
The UN official stressed that “without decisive intervention to resume education in Gaza, we will condemn an entire generation to poverty,” reiterating that “UNRWA exists due to the absence of a political solution to the Palestinian issue.”
