New York – Saba:
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), stated on Wednesday that the agency is at a turning point in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Speaking at the Advisory Commission meeting, Lazzarini warned that this shift threatens to permanently alter the long-standing principles for resolving the so-called "Israeli-Palestinian conflict." He accused Israel of implementing a decades-long project aimed at separating Palestinians from their land, according to the official Palestinian news agency.
"Two million people in Gaza are being starved while food and medical supplies sit at the border—this is utterly horrifying," he said.
Lazzarini criticized the newly established "aid mechanism," which replaces the internationally recognized, principles-based, and UN-led assistance system—of which UNRWA is a core part. He described the new mechanism as "abhorrent, deadly, and dehumanizing," forcing desperate people into what he called "ghetto-like" enclaves from which they could be more easily displaced.
The UN official stated that this represents "the vile culmination of 20 months of inaction and impunity," during which over 55,000 people, mostly women and children, have reportedly been killed.
Regarding the West Bank, Lazzarini said it remains under lockdown, with additional restrictions on the movement of people and goods exacerbating the impact of brutal Israeli military operations and escalating settler violence.
In northern West Bank cities, he noted, "Palestinians are being displaced from refugee camps at levels unseen since 1967." Public infrastructure is being systematically destroyed to prevent their return, permanently altering the camps' demographics while annexation efforts accelerate.
Lazzarini condemned Israeli authorities for denying Palestinians their most basic rights, including education, citing the forced closure of UNRWA schools in occupied East Quds just weeks before the academic year ended—leaving nearly 550 students without alternatives. "Depriving children of education is not only inhumane but also illegal," he stressed.
He further accused Israel of undermining the viability of a Palestinian state and stripping Palestinians of their refugee status, with dismantling UNRWA becoming "a target of aggression in Gaza." The agency, he said, is collapsing under relentless political attacks.
Lazzarini referenced laws passed by the Israeli Knesset against UNRWA, enacted in January, which ban the agency’s operations and have led to the "effective expulsion of UNRWA’s international staff from the occupied Palestinian territory."
He highlighted that 320 UNRWA employees in Gaza have been killed, many with their families, including one who was "executed while on duty for the UN"—his body found near the "shameful mass grave of Palestinian paramedics."
Lazzarini called for accountability for these crimes and other violations of international law.
Addressing UNRWA’s budget crisis, he revealed that donor funding received between January and May 2024 covers only 56% of the amount received during the same period last year. The agency faces a projected $200 million deficit this year and cannot sustain major shortfalls into 2025. A sudden loss or reduction of UNRWA services, he warned, would deepen suffering and despair across the occupied Palestinian territories.
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