UNRWA chief slams Zionist regime for crippling Gaza aid operations

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told the UN General Assembly Fourth Committee on Thursday that the regime was crippling humanitarian operations as Palestinians face the onset of heavy rains and winter with sparse shelter or relief.

Despite the ceasefire mandating the passage of humanitarian aid, only a fraction of that needed for the population has been let in by Zionist regime, he noted.

“Safeguarding UNRWA’s mandate and operations is required under international law; it is vital to the survival of millions of Palestinians; and it is essential for a political solution,” the UNRWA chief said.

Heartbreaking scenes as rainwater floods the war’s torn Gaza Strip, leaving many displaced Palestinians struggling for shelter.

The remarks follow recent findings by the UN Commission of Inquiry and rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) obligating Israel to lift restrictions on the agency.

ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa said that Zionist regime must “agree to and facilitate relief schemes provided by the United Nations and its entities,” including UNRWA.

UN agencies and several humanitarian organizations have reiterated that Israel was failing to uphold the terms of a Gaza ceasefire agreement by refusing to reopen the crucial Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Separately, Lazzarini also told a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York that severe funding shortfalls were threatening UNRWA’s essential services. He urged donor nations to provide more money so that the agency could continue its operations in Gaza despite funding cuts by the United States.

“We run week by week, month by month. I know that as of today, we will be able to process our salaries in November, but have no idea if or no visibility if we will be able to process our salaries in December,” said Lazzarini.

Zionist regime has barred UNRWA from operating in the occupied territories after baselessly accusing some of its employees of participating in the October 7, 2023, al-Aqsa operation carried out by resistance groups.

Following those allegations, the US, the greatest benefactor of the Israeli regime, suspended its support.

“In the absence of a significant influx of new funding, the delivery of critical services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region will be compromised,” Lazzarini added.

In the wake of Zionist regime’s decision, UNRWA was forced to repatriate its international staff from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, limiting its food aid distribution abilities.

But it still employs 12,000 people in the besieged Palestinian territory, and its services are vital to Palestinians, Lazzarini insisted.

“About 75,000 people were sheltered in 100 of our premises across the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the UNRWA chief also noted that the agency’s joint vaccination campaign with UNICEF and the World Health Organization. UNRWA also provides education for tens of thousands of children.

“We have, over the last two years, provided more than 15 million primary health consultations. Today, the average is about 14,000 a day,” he added.

Under the ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, and which Israel has violated hundreds of times, aid deliveries were supposed to be significantly ramped up, with at least 600 trucks a day due to enter Gaza to fulfil the population’s needs.

However, only “around 150 trucks” have been entering Gaza daily, carrying supplies that are not sufficient for the two million Palestinians who are currently displaced and homeless.

The lack of supplies has prompted the UN to warn that the hunger crisis in Gaza remains catastrophic, particularly in the north, where famine was declared in August.

UNRWA was founded in 1949 following the Nakba (Catastrophe), when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes by the occupying regime.

Many of those refugees make up large portions of the populations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, living in refugee camps supported by the aid agency.