UNRWA slams Israel for crippling Gaza efforts, aid woefully short of needs

The United Nations bureau for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has accused Israel of deliberately crippling its operations and blocking the introduction of captious assistance to Gaza amid its much than two-year genocidal war, arsenic Palestinians look the onset of dense rains and wintertime with sparse structure oregon relief.

“Safeguarding UNRWA’s mandate and operations is required nether planetary law; it is captious to the endurance of millions of Palestinians; and it is indispensable for a governmental solution,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told the UN General Assembly Fourth Committee connected Thursday, citing caller findings by the UN Commission of Inquiry and rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) obligating Israel to assistance restrictions connected the agency.

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Lazzarini besides told a quality league astatine the UN office successful New York that terrible backing shortfalls were threatening UNRWA’s indispensable services, urging donor nations for much money, truthful that it could proceed its operations successful Gaza contempt backing cuts by the United States.

“We tally week by week, period by month. I cognize that arsenic of today, we volition beryllium capable to process our salaries successful November, but person nary thought if oregon nary visibility if we volition beryllium capable to process our salaries successful December,” said Lazzarini.

Israel has barred UNRWA from operating connected its soil aft baselessly accusing immoderate of its employees of participating successful the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led onslaught connected confederate Israel, which triggered the war.

Israel has repeatedly accused UNRWA employees of engagement successful the October 7 onslaught without providing proof.

Following those allegations, the US – historically the agency’s biggest donor – suspended its support.

In the aftermath of Israel’s decision, UNRWA was forced to repatriate its planetary unit from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, limiting its nutrient assistance organisation abilities.

But it inactive employs 12,000 radical successful the Palestinian territory, and its services are captious to Palestinians, Lazzarini insisted.

“About 75,000 radical were sheltered successful 100 of our premises crossed the Gaza Strip,” helium said.

“We have, implicit the past 2 years, provided much than 15 cardinal superior wellness consultations. Today, the mean is astir 14,000 a day,” helium added, besides noting the agency’s associated vaccination run with UNICEF and the World Health Organization. UNRWA besides provides acquisition for tens of thousands of children.

“In the lack of a important influx of caller funding, the transportation of captious services to millions of Palestinian refugees crossed the portion volition beryllium compromised,” Lazzarini added.

While US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said UNRWA volition person nary relation successful post-war Gaza, successful sync with Israeli demands, Lazzarini noted that since the US-brokered ceasefire betwixt Israel and Hamas took hold, “we person expanded our services”.

‘Terrifying nightmare for a batch of families’

Under the ceasefire, which took effect connected October 10, and which Israel has violated hundreds of times, assistance deliveries were expected to beryllium importantly ramped up, with astatine slightest 600 trucks a time owed to participate Gaza to fulfil the population’s needs.

However, lone “around 150 trucks” person been entering Gaza daily, carrying supplies that are not capable for the “two cardinal Palestinians that are presently displaced and homeless”, said Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah, successful cardinal Gaza.

“There are a batch of Palestinian families who person said that determination are nary tarps, nary tents, and they didn’t person immoderate humanitarian aid”, contempt the accomplishment of the assistance trucks, said Khoudary.

The deficiency of supplies, coupled with the onset of winter, is simply a “terrifying nightmare for a batch of families and particularly for those who are surviving successful makeshift camps”, said Khoudary.

The deficiency of supplies has prompted the UN to pass that the hunger situation successful Gaza remains catastrophic, peculiarly successful the north, wherever famine was declared successful August, owed to the dilatory and hard way assistance convoys look from the south.

Trucks carrying humanitarian assistance and commercialized cargo resumed transition done the bluish Zikim borderline crossing earlier this week.

Israel had closed the crossing, the main introduction constituent into the hard-hit bluish Gaza Strip, for 2 months, with its reopening welcomed by Palestinians and UN assistance agencies.

Palestinian motortruck operator Abdulkarim Abu Daqqa said connected Thursday that they had loaded astir 80 trucks and hoped that the crossings would proceed the pursuing time to alleviate Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.

A spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli Defence Ministry assemblage that oversees civilian affairs successful the occupied Palestinian territory, told the AFP quality bureau that the crossing would stay unfastened permanently.

Exchange of bodies

The October ceasefire besides provided for the merchandise of captives and prisoners held by Israel and Hamas.

Israel connected Thursday received the assemblage of 1 of the past 4 captives held by Hamas from the Red Cross, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bureau said.

The coffin was handed implicit successful the Gaza Strip to the Israeli service and Shin Bet information service, the bureau said.

It aboriginal said forensic experts had confirmed the assemblage was that of Israeli captive Meny Godard, 73, who was killed successful the Hamas-led October 2023 onslaught connected confederate Israel.

Hamas said the assemblage was recovered successful Khan Younis successful the southbound of the territory.

The hunt for the remaining 3 bodies is going to beryllium “complicated” and “will instrumentality time”, said Khoudary.

According to an announcement by Hamas’s equipped wing, the Qassam Brigades, they necessitate “more tools, much instrumentality … much technicians” arsenic the determination wherever the bodies are located is “very unreachable”, Khoudary added.

The remaining bodies are located beyond the alleged Yellow Line, according to Khoudary, which are “dangerous areas”.

The Yellow Line is simply a bound dividing the Gaza Strip into Israeli-occupied and Hamas-controlled zones, established arsenic portion of the October ceasefire. Israel has been routinely firing astatine and sidesplitting Palestinians venturing to cheque connected the ruins of their homes successful areas it controls successful caller weeks.

Palestinians are eagerly waiting for the 3 remaining bodies to beryllium handed implicit to the Israeli authorities, “because their lives are connected hold. Palestinians privation reconstruction, they privation to cognize from wherever they could commencement their lives each over,” said Khoudary. “There are a batch of Palestinians who request aesculapian evacuations, and these won’t hap until the 3 bodies” person been delivered to Israel via the Red Cross.

At the commencement of the truce, Hamas held 20 surviving captives and 28 bodies of the deceased.

In exchange, Israel has released astir 2,000 Palestinian prisoners successful its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of deceased Palestinians.

Gaza’s wellness officials person said galore of the returned bodies showed signs of torture, mutilation and execution.

Gaza wellness officials said connected Friday they had received the bodies of 15 Palestinians returned by Israel. Their remains were delivered to Nasser Medical Complex, according to an Al Jazeera correspondent. This brings the full fig of bodies recovered done the woody to 330.

“Identifying these bodies [of Palestinians] has been precise challenging,” said Khoudary.

Only a tiny fig of them person managed to beryllium identified, said Khoudary, arsenic they person “decomposed, [been] disfigured”. As a result, “it’s precise hard for families to place who these Palestinians are, truthful that’s wherefore astir of those Palestinians are buried without recognition successful 1 of the wide graves successful Deir el-Balah.”