WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (KUNA) -- Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini cautioned against the disastrous consequences of the Israeli legislation decision to prohibit the Agency from operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Briefing the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East on Tuesday, Lazzarini hailed the start of implementation of the long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza nine days ago.
"We are heartened by the return of Israeli hostages and imprisoned Palestinians to their families.
"We are encouraged by marked improvements in the flow of humanitarian aid and in operating conditions," he said, adding "We hope that the ceasefire will hold and that the tremendous suffering in Gaza will subside." On his Agency, Lazzarini said, UNRWA is "the largest UN presence in Gaza, with 13,000 personnel and 300 premises." "The Agency is critical for supporting a shattered population and the ceasefire.
"And yet, in two days, our operations in the occupied Palestinian territory will be crippled, as legislation passed by the Israeli Knesset takes effect.
"At stake is the fate of millions of Palestinians, the ceasefire, and the prospects for a political solution that brings lasting peace and security," he regretted.
"In the wake of the ceasefire, we must contend with the devastation of the last 15 months, and the enormity of the challenges ahead.
"A peer-reviewed study of death by traumatic injury in Gaza reveals that the mortality figure provided by the Ministry of Health is a minimum estimate.
"46,000 deaths is likely an undercount by more than 40 percent.
"The study also confirms that the majority of those killed are women, children and the elderly.
"Those who escaped death by bombardment, starvation and disease have emerged shell-shocked.
"Tens of thousands of people are now returning to the decimated north, to search for the living and to bury the dead.
"Across the Gaza Strip, Palestinians are turning to UNRWA - the Agency they have known all their lives - for support.
"Curtailing our operations now - outside a political process, and when trust in the international community is so low - will undermine the ceasefire.
"It will sabotage Gaza's recovery and political transition." Dealing with the legislation, passed by the Knesset (parliament of the Israeli occupation authorities) in late October 2024, he warned that "Full implementation of the Knesset legislation will be disastrous." "In Gaza, undermining UNRWA's operations will compromise the international humanitarian response.
"It will degrade the capacity of the United Nations just when humanitarian assistance must be scaled up significantly.
"This will only worsen the already catastrophic living conditions of millions of Palestinians," he affirmed.
Responding to Israeli claims that UNRWA's services can be transferred to other entities, he said, "In fact, the Agency's mandate to provide public-like services to an entire population is unique." "Our capacity to directly provide primary healthcare for millions of Palestinians, and to resume education for hundreds of thousands of children, far exceeds that of any other entity.
"These services can only be transferred to a functioning state," Lazzarini explained.
UNRWA constitutes half the emergency response, with all other entities delivering the other half.
"Since October 2023, we have delivered two-thirds of all food assistance, provided shelter to over a million displaced persons, and vaccinated a quarter of a million children against polio.
"Since the ceasefire began, UNRWA has brought in 60 percent of the food entering Gaza, reaching more than half a million people," he said, adding, "We conduct some 17,000 medical consultations every day." Less quantifiable, but critical for the humanitarian response and the ceasefire, is community acceptance. (more) gb