Patrick Wintour
The Guardian / September 13, 2024
Philippe Lazzarini says closure would have ‘devastating consequences’ and calls for investigation into deadly strike.
A campaign is under way to drive the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) out of existence, its commissioner general has said, days after 18 people were killed when Israeli jets bombed an UNRWA school in Gaza.
Philippe Lazzarini said in an interview that the Israeli government was seeking to close down the agency, having failed to persuade western donors to stop funding it on the grounds of allegations about links between UNRWA staff and Hamas.
“This deliberate attempt to eliminate Unrwa and prevent it from operating would have devastating consequences for the multilateral system, the UN and the cause of a Palestinian transition to self-determination,” Lazzarini said.
On Wednesday Unrwa said six staff members had been killed in two airstrikes that hit al-Jaouni school in Nuseirat, in central Gaza – the highest death toll among its staff in a single incident. The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes killed nine Hamas members, three of whom had doubled as UNRWA workers.
Lazzarini said the IDF had not previously informed his agency that the three staff were Hamas members. “None of these names have ever been on any IDF list notified to us, so I have absolutely no way of being able to authenticate or not,” he said. “These people were working in the shelter … There was no indication they were military operatives.”
UNRWA, one of the UN’s largest agencies, has 13,000 staff working in Gaza and more than 30,000 in the region providing health and educational facilities to Palestinian refugees.
Lazzarini called for an independent investigation, pointing out the total number of UNRWA staff killed in the conflict since 7 October last year had reached 220.
He said: “There is a deliberate attempt to eliminate and dismantle the agency and the reason behind that has nothing to do with neutrality issues, but there is a political purpose behind it. Ultimately there is a desire to strip the Palestinians of refugee status and beyond that to undermine the future Palestinian aspiration for self-determination. That is why Unrwa has become such a target.
“We should make absolutely no mistake that this is more than an attack on Unrwa, but on the broader multilateral system and on the UN. This is a campaign to dismantle Unrwa and push out the broader humanitarian community.”
Lazzarini pointed out three pieces of legislation going through the Israeli parliament: one to label UNRWA as a terrorist organisation, another to remove all immunities from UNRWA staff and a third to deny UNRWA access to buildings under Israel’s control. He said the draft bills were enjoying large support.
In addition, he said the Israeli government was not renewing visas for key Unrwa staff and NGOs.
“It is unconscionable that a UN member state call a UN agency whose mandate comes from the UN security council to be labelled a terrorist organisation. It will set a precedent for other governments to label UN organisations when they act in a way the state does not approve,” he said.
Lazzarini also warned that a generation of unschooled children living in despair was emerging on the border with Israel, some of whom he feared could turn to extremism.
“Education was the last asset these children had, but they live in the rubble and are deeply traumatised,” he said. “The more we wait to bring them back to the educational environment, the more I believe we will be sowing seeds for more hatred, for more resentment and for more extremism.”
Lazzarini said it had become banal to assert that international law had been ignored in Gaza, but after meeting Arab leaders in Cairo this week he said “it is hard to estimate how much they feel western double standards are being applied”.
He said his agency had responded promptly and seriously to the initial Israeli allegations that 12 staff members had taken part in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. He said 10 staff had been sacked immediately and two investigations completed, including one by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna.
“We have wasted no time in implementing her recommendations, including strengthening the screening of staff and the guidelines governing staff political advocacy. We cannot police what staff think around the family table, but we can set clear limits on what can be said at work, and seek to train staff in the principles of neutrality and work for the UN.”
He said every country that had suspended UNRWA funding, save for the US, had now restored it, leaving a shortfall of $450,000 (£340,000).
The 7 October attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians. Israel’s retaliation has killed at least 41,118 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
On Friday the World Health Organization director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, hailed the success of the first phase of a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, after more than 560,000 children received a first dose.
“This is a massive success amidst a tragic daily reality of life across the Gaza Strip,” Tedros said on X. Disease has spread with Gaza lying in ruins and the majority of its 2.4 million residents forced to flee their homes due to Israel’s military assault – often taking refuge in cramped and unsanitary conditions.
Patrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for The Guardian
