The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned today (Sunday) that the agency is on the verge of collapse in the Gaza Strip.
Lazzarini said on the agency's account on the (X) website that UNRWA is on the verge of collapse in Gaza, which threatens a complete humanitarian collapse in the Strip due to the restriction and shortage of humanitarian supplies to the population.
He added that he sent a written letter to the President of the United Nations General Assembly to inform him that UNRWA's ability to continue implementing its mandate in Gaza "has become very limited."
The text of the letter, published on the UNRWA website, stated that relief agencies are appealing for the delivery of humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip and have been placed in an unbearable position by requesting permission to carry out life-saving work.
Lazzarini pointed out that humanitarian aid to Gaza has become conditional, and humanitarian aid is withheld or delivered according to political and military agendas of which the United Nations is not aware.
He said, "Food, water and fuel are being systematically used as weapons of war in Gaza, and attacking humanitarian organizations and trying to discredit them is another way to wage war and undermine the humanitarian response, further weakening the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure."
He added that the meager supplies that Israel allows into Gaza have little impact in facing the enormous needs of the entire population.
Lazzarini stressed that governments around the world should act decisively and hold accountable those who use humanitarian aid as a weapon and discredit humanitarian organizations with the aim of weakening aid and protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
