Lazzarini Asks Partners To Fight Israel's Efforts To Disband UNRWA

Head of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini. (Twitter/@UNLazzarini)

JAKARTA - The head of the United Nations (UNRWA) Palestinian refugee agency on Monday called on partners to fight Israel's efforts to dissolve the organization while providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the rest of the region.

"Israel has long criticized the agency's mandate. However, now Israel is seeking to end UNRWA's operations, ignoring the agency's status as a United Nations entity backed by a majority member state," UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said at a meeting of the agency's advisory commission in Geneva. June 25.

"If we don't fight back, the UN entity and other international organizations will be the next targets, which further undermine our multilateral system," he continued.

Lazzarini further said the agency was the target of an "integrated effort" to dissolve it, including through a legislative initiative that threatened to expel the agency from its complex and label UNRWA a terrorist organization.

Lazzarini also said the agency, which has provided important assistance to Gazans for eight months of Israeli attacks, was "tricked under the burden of relentless attacks".

"In Gaza, this agency has paid a very high price, 193 UNRWA personnel have died," he said.

"More than 180 installations have been damaged or destroyed, killing at least 500 people seeking the protection of the United Nations. Our place has been used for military purposes by Israel, Hamas, and other Palestinian armed groups," he explained.

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is known to have UNRWA dissolved, accusing him of committing anti-Israeli incitement for years. Last month, Israel's parliament, Knesset, passed an initial reading of the bill aimed at establishing UNRWA as a terrorist organization.

Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva rejected Lazzarini's statement on Monday.

"Letting UN entities and other international organizations be used or controlled by terrorist organizations such as those carried out by Hamas who instill themselves in UNRWA will further damage our multilateral system," he said in a statement.

"This is a real threat to our rule-based international order."

Several countries have stopped funding them for UNRWA. following Israel's accusations that some of the agency's staff were involved in the Hamas attack on October 7 on Israel that sparked the Gaza war. Most donors have resumed their funding.

However, Lazzarini said UNRWA still lacks the resources needed to fulfill its mandate.

"The agency's ability to operate after August will depend on disbursement of funds planned by member countries and the provision of new contributions to the core budget," he explained.

It is known, founded in 1949 after the first Arab-Israeli war, UNRWA provided services including schools, primary health care, and humanitarian aid in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.