The primary United Nations agency in Gaza has issued a warning, stating it is likely to cease operations in the war-torn region and across the Middle East by the end of the month. This follows a pause in funding from donors over allegations that some of its staff were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
“If the funding remains suspended, we will most likely be forced to shut down our operations by the end of February – not only in Gaza, but also across the region,” the agency’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said Thursday.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides assistance to Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza. The warning about halting operations stems from a funding freeze by more than a dozen countries, including the United States.
Allegations from Israel claim that 13 UNRWA staff members were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack, engaging in activities like kidnapping hostages and supplying logistic support. UNRWA reports a suspension of $440 million in funding, affecting its 13,000 staff in Gaza.
UNRWA has emphasized that the humanitarian situation for Palestinians in Gaza is poised to worsen significantly if the suspended funding is not reinstated.
“Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee to the south due to bombardment and fighting in Khan Younis over the last week, adding to more than 1.4 million people already crammed in the southern governorate of Rafah. Most are living in makeshift structures, tents, or out in the open, and now also fear they might no longer receive any food or other humanitarian assistance from UNRWA,” the agency said in a statement from Amman, Jordan.
Thomas White, the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, expressed, “Rafah has become a sea of people fleeing bombardments.” Those escaping the strife in the city of Khan Younis, often displaced multiple times, are compelled to vacate the largest UNRWA shelter at the Khan Younis Training Center.
Amid ongoing conflict in the south, UNRWA raised concerns about the northern territory, indicating a looming famine and limited access since the onset of the war.
Thomas White revealed that UNRWA has received reports indicating that individuals in the region are resorting to grinding bird feed to produce flour, highlighting the severe food scarcity and dire circumstances faced by the population.
“When our convoys are finally permitted to go to the area, people rush to the trucks to get food and often eat it on the spot,” he said.
Lazzarini stressed, “It is the time to reinforce and not to weaken UNRWA,” following the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) order. The ICJ instructed Israel to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza in a politically charged genocide case initiated by South Africa.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has advocated for the dismantling of UNRWA, proposing its replacement by other aid groups.
“I think it’s time that the international community and the UN itself understand that UNRWA’s mission has to end,” Netanyahu told a delegation of UN ambassadors.
Netanyahu commented on the ICJ’s ruling, noting that it ordered Israel to “take all measures” to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. However, he refrained from endorsing the suspension of Israel’s military campaign in the enclave, a request made by South Africa.
Benjamin Netanyahu asserted, “Many of the charges against us in The Hague, brought by UNRWA officials, are false and unfounded. In recent weeks, we have discovered that UNRWA officials were complicit in the massacre.”
Other Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Hallant, have advocated for the dismantling of UNRWA in its current form. Hallant went on to state, “UNRWA is Hamas with a facelift.”
Twenty-one humanitarian organizations expressed shock at the decision to cut off aid to Gaza, labeling it a “reckless decision” by some of the same countries that had previously called for increased aid in the region. The move is seen as contradictory to the call for the protection of humanitarians in their duty.