Senior UN Officials Say UNRWA's Central Humanitarian Role In Gaza Cannot Be Replaced

UNRWA service at the Palestinian refugee shelter. (Twitter/@UNRWA)

JAKARTA - A senior UN aid official said the UN aid agency for Palestine (UNRWA) had a central and irreplaceable war, following the support of Israel for the agency's staff linked to the Hamas attack on southern Israel last October.

"It is very important for us to realize the central role UNRWA plays in the Gaza Strip in the distribution of humanitarian aid and, of course, before the conflict, when schools open or clinics open," explained senior humanitarian officials and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag, after a closed meeting of the UN Security Council., reported The National News January 31.

"There is no way any organization can replace or replace the extraordinary capacity, UNRWA capabilities and their knowledge of the population in Gaza," he continued.

Kaag further said he had shared his observations and recommendations during his briefing to the council, highlighting the logistics of Gaza's supply routes and distribution processes, as well as creating an environment that supports and oversees UN aid mechanisms.

"It's not about calculating trucks (assistance). It's about volume, quality, speed and delivery of sustainable humanitarian and commercial goods to reach civilians in Gaza," he explained.

"And the mechanism, when it starts running, can be very helpful to facilitate this," said Kaag.

Kaag's remarks came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres prepared to meet with 36 donor countries to discuss UNRWA funding.

It is known that several countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, and Japan have suspended funding for the UN agency, following allegations by several staff members involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

Israel accused the UN agency of being biased and asked them to end its operations in Gaza after the war.

Separately, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UNRWA annually lists 13,000 of its staff in Gaza to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

"As far as I was informed by UNRWA, concerns have not arisen when the staff list was shared," he said.