Lazzarini slams Israeli attempts to close down UNRWA as 'devastating'
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Lazzarini says the Israeli attempt to shut down UNRWA would have "devastating consequences for the multilateral system, the UN, and the cause of a Palestinian transition to self-determination."
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Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike hit a UNRWA-run school in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, on May 14, 2024. (AP)
A campaign is underway to defund the UN humanitarian agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, its commissioner general stated, days after 18 people were murdered when Israeli warplanes targeted a UNRWA school in Gaza.
Philippe Lazzarini stated in an interview that the Israeli government was attempting to dismantle the organization after failing to persuade Western donors to cease supporting it due to false claims of the agency cooperating with the Palestinian Resistance, Hamas.
Lazzarini stated that this attempt would have "devastating consequences for the multilateral system, the UN, and the cause of a Palestinian transition to self-determination."
The Israeli occupation carried out yet another massacre in Gaza on Wednesday, targeting a UN school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the Strip, killing at least 14 people and injuring several others, among them UN employees.
According to the Gaza Media Office, the massacre at al-Jaouni School marks the 47th carried out by the occupation in the Nuseirat camp, which is currently home to over a quarter of a million residents and forcibly displaced individuals.
"9 martyrs and a large number of wounded by the Israeli aircraft bombing the school of ""Jaouni" Sheltering displaced people in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/hLPTkcACsa
— Palestine Daily News ✌️🇵🇸✌️ (@Palestinedaily1) September 11, 2024
The occupation alleged it killed 9 members of Hamas, 3 of whom were UNRWA workers, while Lazzarini stated that the IOF had not revealed this information to him previously.
He urged an impartial investigation and lamented the death of 220 UNRWA personnel in Gaza, citing a "deliberate attempt" to get rid of the agency for political reasons, adding that there is a purpose to deprive Palestinians of refugee status and, beyond that, to hinder future Palestinian aspirations for self-determination.
“We should make absolutely no mistake that this is more than an attack on UNRWA, but on the broader multilateral system and on the UN. This is a campaign to dismantle UNRWA and push out the broader humanitarian community.”
Lazzarini mentioned three pieces of legislation now before the Israeli parliament: one to classify UNRWA as a "terrorist" organization, another to remove all immunities from UNRWA employees, and a third to prohibit UNRWA access to buildings under "Israel's" authority. He stated that the draft measures were receiving widespread support.
In addition, he stated that the Israeli government was not renewing visas for senior UNRWA officials and NGOs, calling it "unconscionable that a UN member state call a UN agency whose mandate comes from the UN Security Council to be labeled a terrorist organization. It will set a precedent for other governments to label UN organizations when they act in a way the state does not approve."
Lazzarini pointed out that the unschooled children living in Gaza are "deeply traumatized", adding that their resentment and possible extremism may take place the longer it takes for them to return to an educational environment.
Lazzarini said it had become banal to assert that international law had been ignored in Gaza, but after meeting Arab leaders in Cairo this week, he said, “It is hard to estimate how much they feel Western double standards are being applied”.
He stated that all countries that had halted UNRWA financing, except the United States, have now reinstated it, leaving a $450,000 (£340,000) shortage.
