Lazzarini: UNRWA is paying the price of raising its voice and drawing attention to the plight of Gaza Strip people

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinians Refugees (UNRWA), considered that the UN agency is paying the price of raising its voice and drawing attention to the plight of the people of Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to continuous Israeli aggression for 4 months.

Lazzarini said in a statement to the British newspaper the Financial Times: “We may pay the price for raising our voice in drawing attention to the plight of the people of Gaza and to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes”.

He added: “The elimination of UNRWA has become one of the goals of the Israeli war”, stressing that he will continue in his position as long as the agency is able to support people and convey the voice of Palestinian refugees.

Lazzarini pointed out that “Israel” has not provided evidence of its allegations regarding the participation of agency employees in the Al-Aqsa Flood operation so far.

Several countries decided to suspend their funding to UNRWA based on the allegations of the occupying entity. The heads of United Nations humanitarian agencies recently confirmed that cutting off the funding to UNRWA will have catastrophic consequences on Gaza Strip and may lead to the collapse of the humanitarian system there, with far reaching humanitarian and human consequences in the occupied Palestinian territories and throughout the region.

Souha Suleiman