Gaza’s Situation Unprecedented, Indescribable: UNRWA

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), has said that the situation in the Gaza Strip has not been seen “in any previous crisis” and defies description.

Xinhua news agency reported Lazzarini as saying, “We are facing a tragedy that is not related to food.” It noted that people in Gaza suffer from deliberate starvation operations that could have been avoided.

Lazzarini warned that the Gaza Strip, inhabited by about 2.35 million people, is on the verge of entering into a phase of famine. The children there are dying due to thirst and hunger, he said and stressed the need to open land crossings for aid trucks to enter Gaza.

He added, “Airdrops cannot replace land aid.”

According to the Gaza-based Health Ministry, atleast 20 people, most of them children, have died as a result of drought and malnutrition caused by the war.

In the meantime, Lazzarini said that the agency “had not yet received any evidence confirming Israel’s allegations that UNRWA employees took part in the October 7 attack.” He added that it would be wrong to dismantle the UNRWA before reaching a permanent political solution.

Earlier, in January, the organisation was rocked by accusations levelled by Israel that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 attacks in southern Israel, carried out by Hamas. This led to several countries halting contributions of nearly $440 million, which made up nearly half of UNRWA’s yearly funding.

Late last month, Lazzarini said that the agency is facing repeated calls by Israel to dismantle UNRWA and freeze its funding by donors.

The UNRWA is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA’s mandate encompasses Palestinians who fled or were expelled during the Nakba, the 1948 Palestine War, and subsequent conflicts, as well as their descendants, including legally adopted children. As of 2019, more than 5.6 million Palestinians are registered with UNRWA as refugees.

UNRWA was established in 1949 by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to provide relief to all refugees resulting from the 1948 conflict. It also provided relief to Jewish and Arab-Palestine refugees inside the State of Israel following the 1948 conflict until the Israeli government took over responsibility for them in 1952. As a subsidiary body of the UNGA, UNRWA’s mandate is subject to periodic renewal every three years; it has consistently been extended since its founding, most recently until 30 June 2026.

UNRWA employs over 30,000 people, most of them Palestinian refugees, and a small number of international staff. Originally intended to provide employment and direct relief, its mandate has broadened to include providing education, health care, and social services to its target population. UNRWA operates in five areas: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; aid for Palestinian refugees outside these five areas is provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), established in 1950 as the main agency to aid all other refugees worldwide.

UNRWA is the only UN agency dedicated to helping refugees from a specific region or conflict. Unlike UNRWA, UNHCR has a specific mandate to assist refugees in eliminating their refugee status by local integration in the current country, resettlement in a third country or repatriation when possible.

In recent decades, UNRWA has been involved in controversial incidents connected to its role in the Gaza Strip, relationship with Hamas, and textbook content. The most recent controversy over the alleged involvement of 12 of its employees in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel prompted lay-offs, an investigation, and the temporary suspension of funding by United States, Germany, European Union, Sweden, Japan, France, Switzerland, Canada, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Austria, Finland, New Zealand, Iceland, Romania and Estonia.