Israel is waging a concerted campaign to destroy UNRWA, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said in an interview published on Saturday.
“We are currently facing an extensive and concerted campaign by Israel aimed at destroying UNRWA,” Philippe Lazzarini told the Swiss newspaper group Tamedia and also said that Israel’s demand for resignation was within this framework.
“This is a long-term political goal because they believe that with the abolition of the agency, the question of the status of Palestinian refugees, and therefore the right to return, will be resolved once and for all. There is a much broader political goal behind this story,” he added.
Founded in 1949 to care for Palestinian refugees following the First Arab-Israeli War, UNRWA is the main humanitarian aid organization in the Gaza Strip, which is experiencing a serious humanitarian crisis as a result of the war between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas.
Several countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan, have suspended their funding of UNRWA after Israel raised allegations that the UN agency implicated 12 people from its 13,000 staff in the Gaza Strip in the October 7 Hamas attack have .
“Just look at the number of actions Israel has taken against UNRWA,” Lazzarini said, referring to the order to companies operating in the Israeli port of Ashdod “to stop unloading certain food supplies for UNRWA .”
According to Lazzarini, more than 150 UNWRA facilities have been hit since the Gaza war began more than four months ago.
Israel called on Mr. Lazzarini to resign after claiming that one of the tunnels used by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas was discovered beneath the agency's headquarters in Gaza.
Mr. Lazzarini explained that the tunnel was 20 meters underground and that UNRWA, as a humanitarian organization, had no way of finding out the existence of a facility at such a depth.
Criticism of Israel “is not directed at me personally, but at the entire organization.” These calls for resignation are part of a campaign to destroy UNRWA.”
According to him, around $438 million – more than half of the expected revenue for 2024 – has been frozen.
“If all countries continue to suspend payments, UNRWA funding will quickly be put at serious risk,” he warned.
“From March onwards, expenses exceed income. And without new donors, UNRWA will have to stop working in April.”
He clarified that this applies to the Gaza Strip, but also to activities in the West Bank, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
Mr. Lazzarini said he was meeting with donors and some of them were “ready to reconsider.” He specified that the European Commission would repay its contribution of around 82 million euros from March.
The war began with the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, in which Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza killed more than 1,160 people in Israel, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on data from Israeli officials.
Israel has vowed to retaliate by destroying Hamas, which has been in power in Gaza since 2007. According to the Hamas Health Ministry, the Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed 28,775 people, mostly women and children.