UNRWA warns of repercussions of new Gaza aid mechanism

Ankara: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East(UNRWA) Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarinisaid: The ne...

Ankara: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said: "The newly created, so-called 'aid mechanism' is an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people," adding: "It is a death-trap, costing more lives than it saves."

This came in Lazzarini's statement at the 51st session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which convened in Turkiye on Saturday, where he added: "Food is weaponized, and Palestinians are dehumanized, without consequence."

Commenting on the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip that have begun on October 7, 2023, the UNRWA Commissioner-General said: "More than 55,000 people are reported killed, most of them women and children."

He added: "Those still alive are shadows of their former selves; their lives forever changed by unspeakable trauma and profound loss."

With regard to the occupied West Bank, Lazzarini said that Palestinians have been displaced from camps in the north at levels not seen since 1967, adding: "Public infrastructure is systematically destroyed so Palestinians cannot return, and the demography of camps is permanently altered," and that "Annexation is progressing steadily."