The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Gazans ‘anxious and living in fear’ of Israeli assault on Rafah, warns top UN aid official
As international efforts continue to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, the head of UNRWA, the UN aid agency for Palestinians, warned on Tuesday that those in the enclave remain deeply traumatised by the war with Israel and afraid of a full-scale assault on Rafah in the south.
“People are anxious and in fear of a possible large-scale military operation,” Philippe Lazzarini said, after emerging from a briefing with Member States at UN Geneva. “If the assault takes place, the question is, ‘Where will the civilians go?’ There is absolutely no safe place in Rafah anymore and the fear is that the number of people killed and injured might again significantly increase.”
After more than four months of fighting, sparked by murderous Hamas-led attacks on 7 October in Israel that left some 1,200 people butchered and more than 250 taken hostage, more than 100,000 Gazans have been reported either killed, injured or are missing under the rubble by the local health authority, amid intense Israeli bombardment.
Mr. Lazzarini - who is UNRWA's Commissioner-General - insisted that it was unfeasible to expect the more than one million displaced people crammed into Rafah governorate to move once again, so that Israeli forces can continue their sweep for Hamas militants.
“They are asked to move, the question is where to move,” he said, noting that in Rafah, every spare piece of land over a 20-kilometre stretch was occupied by hundreds of thousands of people living in makeshift plastic shelters.
Turning to the issue of the serious allegations that some UNRWA staff collaborated with Hamas, the agency chief noted that he had immediately sacked those involved and initiated an investigation. Mr. Lazzarini also called for the cooperation of the Israeli authorities.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General also noted that the UN Secretary-General’s review would begin tomorrow into allegations against the agency regarding its “use of social media, about tunnels, about political affiliations” and how proactive it has been in responding to them.
The process will likely take two months but it should be accompanied by an inquiry, including into the Israeli military’s claim that a tunnel and data centre located 20 metres beneath UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City was used by Hamas, Mr. Lazzarini said.
“We need to look at all the situations where UN premises have been blatantly disrespected. Since the beginning of the war more than 150 of our installations have been hit. We know that some installations have been completely destroyed, hundreds of people have been killed, thousands have been injured and all this needs to be investigated independently, together with the allegation of a tunnel.”
Earlier, Israel’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, noted that her Government wished “no harm” to civilians in Gaza and that it did intend to cooperate with the investigation into UNRWA, although it “remained at war with the terrorist organization Hamas”.
“Our fight is with Hamas, it is not with the Palestinian people,” said the Ambassador, who also insisted that “there are alternatives to UNRWA” – a claim rejected by Mr. Lazzarini who said that it would be “shortsighted” to close the agency at a time when senior UN humanitarians and NGOs were calling for aid to be stepped up to Gaza.
“We have half a million girls and boys deeply traumatised that we urgently need to bring back into an education system,” the UNWRA chief said. This would not be provided by “an emerging local administration”, he insisted, adding that “there is absolutely no other UN agency” or NGO with the experience in providing government-like services, including education to hundreds of thousands of children.
“If we want to give a chance to any future transition to succeed, we need also to make sure that the international community has the tools, and one of these tools is UNRWA.”
ends
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WHO , WMO , ILO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the World Health Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, and the International Labour Organization.
1
1
2
Press Conferences | UNCTAD
Publication of the Digital Economy Report 2024: Shaping an environmentally sustainable and inclusive digital future
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR , WHO , OCHA , UNHCR , WFP
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chairs a hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR).
1
1
1
Press Conferences | FAO , IFRC , OCHA , WHO
Rolando Gómez of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Meteorological Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM , mcc , UNHCR
UNHCR IOM MCC Report on risks faced by refugees and migrants on the Central Mediterranean route - "On this journey, nobody cares if you live or die"
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , IOM , ITU , UNCTAD , UNHCR , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO , WMO , OCHA
Alessandra Vellucci of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Organization for Migration, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the World Health Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Trade and Development and the International Telecommunication Union.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , UNHCR , UNRWA , WHO
Daniel Johnson, Public Information Officer, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the World Health Organization, United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNECE
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) press conference on regulating autonomous vehicles: international developments
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Human Rights Council thematic report on drug use, harm reduction and the right to health
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
Every day in Gaza 10 children lose one or both legs, says top UN aid official There’s been no let-up in the terrible human cost of the war in Gaza where 10 children lose one or both legs every day, amid ongoing Israeli bombardment and renewed fears of famine, a top UN aid official said on Tuesday.
1
1
2
Press Conferences | HRC , ITC , OCHA , OSE , UNECE , UNHCR , WHO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the International Trade Centre, and the Human Rights Council.