It is impossible to adequately describe the suffering in Gaza. The death toll in Gaza is staggering. More than 30,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in just 150 days. 5% of the population is dead, injured or missing. Doctors are amputating the limbs of injured children without anaesthetic. Hunger is everywhere. A man-made famine is looming. It is a stain on our collective conscience that for 75 years UNRWA has had to fill a vacuum left by the lack of a political solution and a genuine peace. And yet UNRWA is now facing a deliberate and concerted campaign to undermine its operations, and ultimately end them, writes UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

Statement of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA to the United Nations General Assembly, March 4, 2024, New York.

Mr. President,
Excellencies,

I am here today because UNRWA, the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees, is at a breaking point.

75 years after its creation by this Assembly as a temporary UN entity, pending a just political solution to the question of Palestine, the Agency’s ability to fulfil its mandate is seriously threatened.

Your urgent action is needed to facilitate a political solution that will bring peace to Palestinians and Israelis, and in this context alone, allow the Agency to transition.

In the meantime, the financial crisis confronting UNRWA must be resolved so it can continue its lifesaving operations.

On January 26, the International Court of Justice issued a legally binding Order indicating provisional measures in relation to Palestinians in Gaza.

It requests that the State of Israel take all measures in its power to prevent the commission of acts within the scope of Article II of the Genocide Convention.

This includes enabling the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.

This Order was issued in the context of a war where, in a period of just five months, more children, more journalists, more medical personnel, and more United Nations staff have been killed than anywhere in the world during a conflict.

The death toll in Gaza is staggering. More than 30,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in just 150 days.

5% of the population is dead, injured or missing.

It is impossible to adequately describe the suffering in Gaza.

Doctors are amputating the limbs of injured children without anaesthetic.

Hunger is everywhere. A man-made famine is looming.

More than 100 people were killed a few days ago while desperately seeking food.

Babies – just a few months old – are dying of malnutrition and dehydration.

I shudder to think of what will still be revealed about the horrors that have taken place in this narrow strip of land.

What is the fate of an estimated........

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