The head of the United Nations entity focused on the Palestinian territories warned on Friday that the deteriorating situation in Gaza is impeding its ability to help civilians in need, while also expressing concern for the aid workers themselves.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, wrote a letter to the president of the UN General Assembly in which he outlined the major problems hindering the agency's ability to help those in need, including constant bombardment, insufficient humanitarian supplies, and overcrowded shelters.
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“I must inform you that UNRWA's ability to implement its General Assembly mandate in Gaza is today severely limited with immediate and dire consequences for the UN humanitarian response and the lives of civilians in Gaza,” Lazzarini wrote.
More than half of Gaza residents are sheltering in UNRWA properties, which as a whole, Lazzarini said, is "on the verge of collapse."
“Today, as a result of Israel's military operation, nearly 1.2 million civilians are sheltering in UNRWA premises,” Lazzarini explained. "The Agency has become the primary platform for humanitarian assistance to over 2.2 million people in Gaza — a platform on the verge of collapse."
At least 70% of UNRWA staff members have been displaced while 130 staffers have been killed in the war, Lazzirini said, adding, “I have never written such a letter — predicting the killing of my staff and the collapse of the mandate I am expected to fulfill.”
Israeli leaders declared war on Hamas following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, the most deadly in the country's history. Since then, the Israel Defense Forces have carried out an intensive military campaign throughout the strip, predominantly through airstrikes initially, and then it began a ground invasion. Israel first urged more than a million Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate south citing impending military operations, but Israeli forces are carrying out operations in the south, which is much more densely populated given the previous evacuations.
Israel's military campaign has destroyed significant Gaza infrastructure, and the death toll is more than 15,000, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry. An Israeli military spokesman acknowledged this week that roughly two-thirds of those killed were civilians. International leaders, including President Joe Biden, have urged Israel to do more to prevent civilian casualties, though Israeli leaders have maintained they do not intentionally target civilians.
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The United Nations has also taken a firm stance against Israel's military campaign. Earlier this week, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99, a rare power designed to allow the chief to warn the Security Council of an impending “humanitarian catastrophe,” in this case in Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Guterres' invocation of Article 99, which has not been used since 1971, "constitutes support for the terrorist organization Hamas, and an inspiration for the murder of the elderly, the kidnapping of babies, and the rape of women. Those who support world peace must support the liberation of Gaza from Hamas."