UNRWA

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly (GA) on Wednesday, Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), urged UN member states to act to prevent the implementation of Israeli Knesset legislation targeting UNRWA.  He also urged states to maintain funding for UNRWA and not to withhold or divert funds on the assumption that the organization can no longer operate.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says its staff are continuing to deliver aid to people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, who depend on them "for their very survival," days after an Israeli parliamentary ban on its activities went into effect. As the humanitarian operation in Gaza continues, UNRWA says it is committed “to stay and deliver until it is no longer possible to do so.”

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is appealing for US$1.21 billion to address the unprecedented humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip and to respond to the growing needs in the West Bank as violence there intensifies. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea continues across much of Gaza, resulting in further civilian deaths, displacement and destruction of the civilian infrastructure on which Palestinians depend.

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Monday that civilians in the Gaza Strip are suffering collective punishment and forced displacement as Israels continues its bombing from air, land and sea, killing hundreds of civilians every day. Today, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the killing of civilians in Gaza and expressed his dismay by reports that two-thirds of those who have been killed are women and children. 

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have launched Thursday a $502 million (€462 million) appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to help 1.6 million of the most vulnerable people. The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) estimates that 2.1 million Palestinians across the OPT need some form of humanitarian assistance this year. Among them are more than 1 million children.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday launched a Flash Appeal for more than $2.8 billion to allow UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to respond to the urgent needs of 3.1 million people in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment of much of Gaza continues, resulting in further civilian deaths, displacement and destruction.

Israel's air and ground operations in the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year have killed more than 27,300 people, about 70 percent of them women and children, injured more than 66,000 and left at least 8,000 missing, most of them presumed dead. At the same time, the needs of more than two million people trapped in Gaza, already facing a humanitarian catastrophe, are at risk of becoming even more dire following the decision by 18 donor countries to suspend financial contributions to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

More than 1.9 million people displaced throughout the Gaza Strip - 90 percent of the population - continue to face harrowing conditions, according to the United Nations, as Israeli evacuation orders continue and Israeli air, land and naval bombardment is reported throughout much of the Gaza Strip, causing further civilian deaths, displacement and destruction of homes and other civilian infrastructure.

Some 800,000 people have been forced to flee Gaza's southernmost town of Rafah since Israel launched a military operation in the area in early May, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Saturday, urging greater protection for civilians in Gaza, safe humanitarian access and a ceasefire.  The renewed appeal comes as virtually no aid has entered Gaza for more than ten days, and essentials such as fuel, food and water are in dangerously short supply.

Inflation, insufficient humanitarian assistance and dollarization of food prices are contributing to Lebanon’s food crisis, the international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has said. New data released by the United Nations (UN) and aid agencies this week reveals that 1.4 million people, including both Lebanese and refugees, are experiencing high levels of food insecurity in the country, while malnutrition and insufficient food consumption are prevalent.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on Wednesday for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to ease the “epic human suffering” in the Gaza Strip. The call comes a day after hundreds of civilians were reported killed in an airstrike on a hospital in Gaza. The Gaza de facto authorities blamed Israel for the attack, while the Israeli military claimed a rocket misfired by a Palestinian armed group was responsible.

As the volume of aid reaching the Gaza Strip remains woefully inadequate, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) called Friday on the Israeli authorities, other parties to the conflict and those with influence over them to safeguard an environment for safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid. According to the UN agency, the entire population of Gaza of 2.2 million people is now almost exclusively dependent on humanitarian assistance, including food.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including food, medicine and water, began entering the besieged Gaza Strip on Saturday through the Egypt-controlled Rafah Crossing. Television pictures showed trucks moving into the border crossing area from the Egyptian side. According to local authorities, only about 20 trucks will enter the territory on Saturday, bringing a limited amount of aid. Meanwhile, catastrophic conditions in Gaza continue for its more than 2 million inhabitants as heavy Israeli bombardments, from the air, sea and land, continue almost uninterrupted.

UN chief António Guterres says the number of civilians killed in Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip has been “unparalleled and unprecedented” compared to any other conflict since he took office in 2017. The statement comes as de-facto authorities in Gaza reported today that more than 13,300 people have been killed in the tiny enclave since October 7. The casualty numbers include more than 5, 600 children, which means that more than 100 children are killed daily by indiscriminate and disproportionate Israeli bombardments from the air, sea, and land.