Geneva (Union)
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), confirmed that the agency has sufficient funds to run its operations until the end of May, after a number of donors suspended their funding due to Israeli accusations that some employees participated in the attack against Israel on October 7. the past.
“What I can say is that we can operate our operations until the end of May, whereas a month ago I only had a vision for the next week or two,” he told Reuters in Geneva.
He continued: “But this also shows how bad the organization’s financial situation is.”
UNRWA, which provides aid and services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and throughout the region, has been facing a crisis since Israel accused 12 of its 13,000 employees of involvement in attacks against Israel on October 7.
The accusations prompted many countries, including the United States, to stop funding. Several countries, including Canada, Australia, Finland and Sweden, have since resumed funding the agency.
“I hope more of them will come back,” Lazzarini said of the donors.
Israel has told the United Nations that it will no longer agree to send UNRWA food convoys to northern Gaza, as famine is likely to occur by May, according to a UN-backed report published last week. An Israeli government spokesman said yesterday that Israel will stop working with UNRWA completely in Gaza.
Lazzarini described Israel's decision not to allow UNRWA food convoys to reach northern Gaza as aimed at “preventing people at risk of death” from surviving.
Lazzarini said: “The alternative plan is to return to the first plan… It is very important that the convoys can reach the north. We will certainly look for partnerships, and who can do this on our behalf, and focus on the people who are at risk of death now in northern Gaza.”
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