UNRWA says it is facing its “darkest hour” in Gaza and requires support from UN members against the backdrop of Israel’s ban on the humanitarian organization.
“In Gaza, dismantling UNRWA will collapse the UN humanitarian response, which relies heavily on the agency's infrastructure,” Philippe Lazzarini told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
“Without intervention by member states, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos.”
“In the absence of a capable public administration or state, only UNRWA can deliver education to more than 650,000 girls and boys in Gaza.”
“In the absence of UNRWA, an entire generation will be denied the right to education.”
Israel has officially notified the UN of its decision to cut ties with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Israel claims, as it first did so in January, that UNRWA employees were involved in the October 2023 Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
The regime alleged that the organization’s staff had “participated” in the operation and that many of the employees were “Hamas operatives.”
UNRWA has been rendering essential relief services across the Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades.
The ban culminates Israel's unrelenting efforts at smothering the flow of direly needed aid supplies into the territories, including Gaza.