UNRWA fund cuts by the West ‘collective punishment’ against Palestinians
Al Jazeera
The UN chief joins UNRWA chief calling on Western donor countries for ‘continuity’ in Gaza agency operations.
The decision to suspend aid to the UN Palestinian refugee agency by several Western countries is a “collective punishment”, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has said, as the UN chief Antonio Guterres joined him in urging donor nations to maintain much-needed Gaza aid.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said he was shocked such decisions were taken as “famine looms” in Gaza, which has been devastated by nearly four months of relentless Israeli bombardment that has killed more than 26,000 people.
The agency, with its 13,000 employees in Gaza, is the main organisation aiding Gaza’s population amid the humanitarian disaster. More than two million of the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people depend on the UNRWA for “sheer survival”, including food and shelter, Lazzarini said, warning this lifeline can “collapse any time now”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also joined Lazzarini’s call on Sunday, pleading for donor states to continue supporting the UN agency that runs aid operations in Gaza. “The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met.”
Guterres said that the UN employees involved in acts of “terror” will be held accountable but added that “the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalised”.
