UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) as “the backbone of all humanitarian responses in Gaza” and appealed to all countries to “guarantee the continuation of UNRWA's lifesaving work”. .
Several countries, including the United States, UNRWA's largest donor, suspended funding after Israel accused some of its staff of participating in the October 7 attack by Hamas.
Speaking at the United Nations Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) on Wednesday, Guterres said he was “personally horrified” by the accusations against UNRWA staff, but stressed the need to move beyond the dismissal. .
“Yesterday, I met with our donors to hear their concerns and outline the steps we are taking to address them,” he said.
“I am deeply concerned about the inhumane conditions in which 2.2 million people in Gaza are struggling to survive without the basics.”
Describing the situation inside the besieged enclave, the UN chief said heavy rains had flooded makeshift tent camps, forcing children, parents and the elderly to sleep in the mud. Clean water became almost completely unavailable, preventable diseases spread, and health systems collapsed.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that a “massive catastrophe” was occurring in Gaza.
“This is a population that is starving to death, a population that is being pushed to the brink,” WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan told a news conference.
“The civilian population of Gaza is not a party to this conflict and should be protected as well as medical facilities.
UN officials have warned that UNRWA will have to cease operations by the end of February if funding is not restored.
Heads of the WHO, World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other agencies and partners said the allegations were “horrifying”.
“However, this should not deter us from our organization's overall mission to serve those in desperate need,” they said in a joint statement. “No other organization has the scale and breadth of support that Gaza's 2.2 million people so urgently need.”
'Totally dependent' on UNRWA
At Wednesday's UN Security Council meeting on Gaza, UN Assistance Chief Martin Griffiths said UNRWA plays a fundamental role in the humanitarian response in Gaza.
“Quite simply and frankly, our humanitarian response to the occupied Palestinian territories depends entirely on UNRWA being adequately funded and operational,” Griffiths said. He spoke to a council of directors.
“UNRWA's life-saving services to more than three-quarters of Gaza's population should not be jeopardized by the alleged actions of a few individuals. It is a matter of extraordinary imbalance,” he said.
Mr Griffiths added that the capacity of humanitarian organizations to deliver aid to the people of Gaza remained “wholly inadequate”.
“We continue to face the problem of Israel's refusal to allow essential goods into Gaza, the reasons for which, at least to us, are unclear and inconsistent,” he said.
Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in a lawsuit brought by South Africa to force Israel to do everything it can to stop its forces from committing genocide and to improve the humanitarian situation for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. He ordered that all measures be taken.
In Friday's long-awaited interim ruling, the ICJ did not call for an immediate ceasefire, but Israel called for “immediate and effective” measures to ensure the provision of urgently needed humanitarian aid and basic services to Gaza. He said that it is necessary to implement it immediately.
South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said on Wednesday that all countries should close their funding for Israel's military operations in Gaza after the World Court found that they could amount to genocide. He said he was obligated to stop providing and promoting the service.
Israel must report to the court within one month what it is doing to comply with the order to take all measures within its authority to stop genocide in Gaza. .
Accusations against UNRWA
The accusations against UNRWA officials became public on Friday, when the agency announced it had fired some of its staff following an Israeli tip-off. Guterres said on Sunday that nine of the 12 people involved had been fired, one had died and the identities of the other two were being determined.
The six-page Israeli document states that 12 UNRWA personnel took part in the October 7 attack that killed 1,139 people. It also suggests that Israel has extensive evidence that UNRWA has employed Hamas and 190 Islamic Jihadists.
Late Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said UNRWA was “completely infiltrated” by Hamas and called for its termination.
“The time has come for the international community and the UN itself to understand that UNRWA's mandate must end,” Netanyahu told the visiting UN delegation, according to a statement from his office.
The Palestinians claim that Israel falsified information to undermine UNRWA.
The European Union and donors, including several European countries, the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada, have stopped funding the agency.
Riyad Mansour, the United Nations Permanent Observer for the Palestinian Territories, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that there was no substantial impact on the “30,000 UNRWA personnel and millions of refugees who benefit from UNRWA's services.” He said there was no reason to take measures equivalent to collective punishment. .
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield sidesteps reports that Israel has consistently blocked U.N. efforts to deliver aid, saying the U.S. will facilitate the delivery of more aid to Gaza He said he is working on this.
Thomas-Greenfield also said the ICJ's ruling was consistent with the US approach to Gaza and that the conditions for a ceasefire were “non-existent”.
South Africa's Pandor said Pretoria was doing all it could and it was now up to the international community to play a role in holding Israel accountable.