The agency has come under fire after Israel said 12 of its employees were involved in the October 7 attack by Hamas’ military arm from the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, which killed more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians.
The dissolution of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) would involve the sacrifice of “an entire generation of children” and “sow” future wars, the agency’s head warned on Monday from its podium of the UN General Assembly.
“Dissolving UNRWA would be short-sighted. If it were to happen, a whole generation of children would be sacrificed, hatred, disgust and future conflicts would be sown”, said Philippe Lazzarini, calling it “naive” to think that the dissolution of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees could be done without threatening world peace and security.
At a time when the tension between the government of Israel and the UN continues to escalate, he again denounced a “deliberate and coordinated campaign to undermine” the activities of UNRWA, with the ultimate goal of “terminating them”.
“Part of this campaign involves flooding donor countries with disinformation designed to fuel mistrust and tarnish the agency’s reputation,” he stressed.
The agency has come under fire after Israel said 12 of its employees were involved in the October 7 attack by Hamas’ military wing from the Gaza Strip in southern Israel that killed more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to with an AFP tally based on official Israeli data.
The UN immediately dismissed the accused officials and began an internal investigation. At the same time, Secretary General Antonio Guterres commissioned an independent group chaired by the former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna with a mission to evaluate UNRWA and its “neutrality”.
But 16 countries have suspended funding to the service, which already faces a chronic underfunding problem. And this despite the fact that the accusations remain “unconfirmed”, underlined Philip Lazzarini, who had already accused Israel of having “not provided any evidence” for the alleged involvement of its employees in the attack.
“Let me say what is at stake if no action is taken to correct this disastrous course (…) Soon, the entire humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip will collapse completely,” warned Philippe Lazzarini.
Source :Skai
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