UNRWA faces unprecedented attacks as Gaza crisis escalates, chief warns

BERLIN

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said that, after long being targeted by Israel, it is now facing unprecedented pressure amid the crisis in Gaza.

Speaking to Anadolu in Berlin, Philippe Lazzarini noted that UNRWA operates in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied West Bank, and Gaza, with three of these regions currently in crisis. He emphasized that needs in these areas have never been more urgent.

"But at the same time, we have never been so much under attack and pressure. Now, would UNRWA leave Gaza, it would impact our current effort of saving life," he warned.

Lazzarini said this would mean sacrificing an entire generation of children in Gaza who may lose the chance to return to school without a functioning administration.

He urged UN member states, Israel, and other parties to the conflict to ensure compliance with international law.

"What we have seen for the time being is that there is no red line. We have seen a blatant, constant disregard of international humanitarian law."

Lazzarini stressed that the longer this continues, the more irrelevant the Geneva Conventions and international human rights will become, which in turn "might also in the future further weaken our collective instrument that we have inherited from World War II."

He added that since Oct. 7 last year, Gaza has become barren and uninhabitable, with 90% of the population "living in 10% of the territory, the day-to-day is to struggle to avoid deaths, to avoid disease, to avoid hunger.

"A hunger which has been man-made in the Gaza Strip. The level of destruction is unbelievable."

‘Fear that what happened in Gaza will be replicated in Lebanon’

Lazzarini highlighted that 600,000 of the 1 million children in Gaza are today unable to attend school.

"I keep telling member states and partners, (it) should be our priority to bring them back into a learning environment," he said, underlining that this would help prevent "more hate ... more resentment" from fomenting.

"Education is the only thing which has never ever been taken away from the Palestinians," he added.

"We really owe this, if we want to promote peace and stability in the future. Now, I have also drawn the attention of the West Bank, saying there is a silent war taking place.

'The situation is boiling'

Underlining the unprecedented death toll in the occupied West Bank over the past year, he said that "more and more the clashes between the Palestinian armed group and the Israeli are becoming more violent."

Lazzarini noted that the Israeli activity in refugee camps was destroying public infrastructure and applying collective punishment to the population.

"I'm also very worried about the situation in Lebanon. I just came back from Beirut. Everyone is holding his breath.

"We have seen in three weeks an extraordinary number of displacement. The south of Lebanon has been emptied — 1.2 million people have been put on the road. And there is a fear within the population that what we have seen in Gaza be also replicated in Lebanon."