UNRWA is the lifeline for Palestinians. Back in January, it stated that 570,000 people in Gaza face “catastrophic hunger.” The International Criminal Court prosecutor @KarimKhanQC had warned that the Israeli government’s continued blockage of humanitarian aid could lead to war crime charges. Israel’s response was to continue its attack on UNRWA and spread the lie that UNRWA’s employees were involved in the Oct 7th attack. Many countries, including the US, took action and stated they would stop funding of UNRWA, a demand that Israel had been making since UNRWA’s founding in 1949.
8 Feb, 2024, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA wrote: “The last time UNRWA was allowed to deliver food north or Wadi Gaza was on 23 January. Since the beginning of the year, half of our aid mission requests to the north were denied. The UN has identified deep pockets of starvation and hunger in northern Gaza where people are believed to be on the verge of famine. At least 300,000 people living in the area depend on our assistance for their survival. Preventing access prevents lifesaving humanitarian aid. With the necessary political will, this can be easily reversed.”
Letter from Philippe Lazzarini on 22 Feb, 2024
Philippe Lazzarini on X: In just over four months in Gaza, there have been more #children, more journalists, more medical personnel, and more UN staff killed than anywhere in the world during a conflict. It is with profound regret that I must now inform you that UNRWA has reached a breaking point, with Israel’s repeated calls to dismantle it and the freezing of funding by donors at a time of unprecedented humanitarian needs in Gaza. Read letter to the President of the UN General Assembly
On 6 Feb, 2024, Lindsey Hilsum of Channel 4 in the UK, tweeted: “We got hold of Israel’s dossier against UNRWA – why did the donors including the UK withdraw funding on such flimsy unproven allegations before an investigation?”
Background
The deadly incident comes after an Israeli air strike on an UNRWA-runhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/14/death-trap-israeli-forces-kill-six-aid-seekers-in-gaza-city aid centre kills at least five people in Rafah.
–Cuts UNRWA funding
–Sends Israel another $3.8 billion
–Limits aid to the Palestinian Authority if “the Palestinians” initiate or support an International Criminal Court investigation against Israel for human rights crimes
& @UNMAS led a critical mission to assess damage to @UNRWA facilities, marking any shrapnel & unexploded ordnance. 165 @UNRWA installations in #GazaStrip have been impacted during this war. @UNMAS
says making #Gaza safe from unexploded ordnance could take 14 years.
@UNRWA
Khan Younis Training Centre was sheltering thousands of people when hit by direct fire & besieged; including tank fire without warning Many were killed & injured sheltering under @UN
flag
“The infrastructure [in Khan Younis] is completely destroyed. There are no water, electricity nor sewage services.” Displaced people fleeing #Rafah are moving back to destroyed areas that are in no way fit for them to live in. Nowhere is safe in #Gaza.
“The Knesset is considering legislation forbidding contact between the Israeli state and @UNRWA
. Without UNRWA, life-saving aid to Palestinian refugees would be severely hampered, if not impossible. We urge the Israeli Government to keep UNRWA’s ability to work untouched.”
Charlie Herbert @Charlie533080 responding on X:
·”Oh stop this performative BS please. The UK government is 100% complicit in Israel’s murderous campaign in Gaza. If you really felt strongly in @FCDOGovUK
you’d all resign. Let’s face it, the UK even withheld funding from UNRWA. Pure hypocrisy.”
UNRWA’s presence and operations are based on an agreement between the State of #Palestine and the UN. Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, and has no right to ban the UN organisation. Earlier today on @LBC
with @AndrewMarr9
. Link to full interview: https://youtu.be/RkKEqwljNT4
Israel aiming to ban the UN refugee agency, UNRWA, is a a spectacular own goal (despite what Israel and its most fanatical supporters will say). Israel has long wanted to kill the idea of Palestinian refugees ever being able to return to Israel, a right under international law when a person has been forcibly expelled, so this latest move will achieve nothing except convince even more of the world that the Jewish state is pushing for full, official apartheid across all its territories. With US backing. Israel will become even more unstable and insecure. Rather than addressing the root causes of the conflict, Israel doubles down and continues its slide towards proud Jewish theocracy: https://aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/28/israel-parliament-approves-bill-to-ban-unrwa
Out of the 91 attempts the @UN
has made to deliver aid to besieged north #Gaza between 6 October and 25 November, 82 have been denied and 9 impeded. The conditions for survival are diminishing for the 65,000-75,000 people estimated to remain there.
