Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food. Keystone-SDA

The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

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“There is no plan B within the United Nations family, because there is no other agency capable of providing the same activities,” Lazzarini told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

“If you are talking about bringing in a truck with food, you will certainly find an alternative”, but “the answer is no” when it comes to education and primary health care, Lazzarini, a Swiss national, added.

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In October, the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, decided to ban UNRWA from operating on Israeli soil and from coordinating with the Israeli authorities. The two laws will take effect 90 days after their adoption, according to the Knesset.

No explanation from Israel

Lazzarini explained that the agency he heads had “not received any official communication on how Israel intends” to implement the ban.

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He called on the international community to act to prevent these laws from being applied. But if they are implemented, “it means that we will no longer be able to operate in Gaza, (…) coordinate our movements, do deconfliction and therefore the environment will have to be far too dangerous”.

For UNRWA staff, there is a fear of “job insecurity, but beyond that, there is a real fear that any one of them could be … arrested”, he said.

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“I have drawn the attention of the member states that now the clock is ticking … We have to stop or prevent the implementation of this bill,” he told reporters, saying there is no alternative to the agency’s services in Gaza besides allowing Israel to take them over.

Accusations without proof

The Israeli authorities have long been highly critical of the UN agency. Their relations worsened after the start of the war in Gaza. Israel accused some UNRWA staff of taking part in the attack perpetrated on its soil on October 7 2023 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

According to the UN, Israel has never provided any evidence to support these claims. Doubts about nine UNRWA employees led to their dismissal.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

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