{"id":4497,"date":"2025-03-11T07:31:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T07:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/?p=4497"},"modified":"2025-03-11T07:31:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T07:31:00","slug":"unrwa-chief-warns-of-deepening-hunger-in-gaza-as-israel-blocks-all-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/4497.html","title":{"rendered":"UNRWA chief warns of \u2018deepening hunger\u2019 in Gaza as Israel blocks all food"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has warned that the situation in Gaza is \u201cdeteriorating very, very quickly\u201d,\u00a0more than a week<\/a>\u00a0after Israel again halted all supplies from entering the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever the intent is, it\u2019s clearly a weaponisation of humanitarian aid into Gaza,\u201d Lazzarini told reporters at UN offices in Geneva on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is critical that humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza again to maintain the progress made during the first phase of the ceasefire and meet people\u2019s basic needs,\u201d he said, adding that there remains a risk of returning to the \u201cdeepening hunger\u201d seen before the recent ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Lazzarini heads up UNRWA, which has been mandated by the UN General Assembly to provide assistance to Palestinians, in Palestine and neighbouring countries, since December 1949.<\/p>\n

The agency provides schooling and healthcare services, and could only be replaced by \u201ccapable Palestinian institutions\u201d within \u201ca Palestinian state\u201d, Lazzarini has repeatedly said, amid his agency being banned by the Israeli government.<\/p>\n

Lazzarini told journalists that \u201ca fierce disinformation campaign\u201d,\u00a0legislation outlawing UNRWA<\/a>\u00a0in Israel\u2019s parliament and \u201cthe suspension of funding by key donors\u201d have taken a toll on the agency.<\/p>\n

He warned that UNRWA cannot be allowed to \u201cimplode\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollapse would create a dangerous vacuum in the occupied Palestinian territory and send shockwaves through Jordan, Lebanon and Syria,\u201d Lazzarini said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn environment in which children are deprived of education, and people lack access to basic services, is fertile ground for exploitation and extremism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a threat to peace and stability in the region and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency\u2019s financial situation is also \u201ccritical and precarious\u201d, Lazzarini added.<\/p>\n

Prior to January 26, 2024, the United States\u00a0was UNRWA\u2019s largest funder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following accusations from Israel, the administration of former US President Joe Biden cut its contributions to UNRWA entirely, promising it would continue to provide aid to the Gaza Strip through alternative UN agencies, such as the World Food Programme, and non-government organisations.<\/p>\n

However, according to The Times of Israel, US funding for Gaza\u2019s relief efforts may have been caught up in US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration\u2019s sweeping cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID).<\/p>\n

While it is not clear exactly which USAID programmes are being cut, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a post on X on Monday that \u201cafter a 6 week review we are\u00a0officially cancelling 83 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the programs at USAID\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The Trump administration had initially said that the only exceptions to the cuts would be aid programmes in Israel and Egypt.<\/p>\n

Rubio is currently in Saudi Arabia, where he discussed Gaza reconstruction efforts with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, according to the US State Department.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia is one of dozens of countries to have voiced support for a $53bn\u00a0Egypt-led plan to rebuild Gaza<\/a>\u00a0as an alternative to Trump\u2019s plan to forcibly displace all Palestinians from the Strip.<\/p>\n

The rebuilding Gaza plan is among many factors being considered by negotiators from Israel and Hamas and mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US at talks aimed at reviving the ceasefire agreement, which has stalled after Israel refused to enter into the second phase of the deal.<\/p>\n

Hamas on Monday said that Israel has also failed to live up to its side of the agreement by refusing to withdraw its troops from the border area between Gaza and Egypt, known as the\u00a0Philadelphi Corridor,<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0preventing outside aid from reaching Gaza<\/a>\u00a0directly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source:\u00a0Al Jazeera<\/div>\n

<\/main><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has warned that the situation in Gaza is \u201cdeteriorating very, very quickly\u201d,\u00a0more than a week\u00a0after Israel again halted all supplies from entering the Gaza Strip. \u201cWhatever the intent is, it\u2019s clearly a weaponisation of humanitarian aid into Gaza,\u201d Lazzarini told reporters at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4497"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4499,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4497\/revisions\/4499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}