The systematic Israeli campaign against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza has continued, targeting its institutions and employees intensively for more than a year.
According to the “Observatory” program, Israel is working to restrict the work of UNRWA and question its neutrality, which threatens to undermine the organization that was founded 75 years ago and has accompanied Palestinian refugees since the Nakba in providing vital services to millions of refugees.
The program report states that this Israeli campaign takes several forms, as UNRWA has been subjected to major destruction in its health and educational facilities, especially since the outbreak of the last war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
Reports indicate that the occupation forces repeatedly targeted UNRWA facilities, including schools where displaced people took refuge, in flagrant violation of international law prohibiting the targeting of civilian buildings and United Nations headquarters.
Since the start of the escalation, UNRWA has continuously issued statistics about the tragic situation in Gaza, stating that hundreds of displaced people have died due to the bombing of its schools, in addition to an escalation in the number of casualties among its employees, and that about 190 buildings belonging to the agency have been destroyed or exposed to severe damage.
The most dangerous threat
The “Observatory” program quoted Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, as saying that the humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip have never been of this magnitude, while the agency faces the most dangerous threat in its history as a result of the siege imposed on it and the targeting of its facilities and operations.
Lazzarini stressed that the agency had never faced such a violent attack before, as a number of its employees were killed and its headquarters were damaged, while relief convoys were prevented from reaching residents in need.
The Israeli campaign against UNRWA stands out in different dimensions, as it began months ago by accusing some of its employees of supporting the Palestinian resistance in the October 7 attack, which led some donor countries to freeze their aid, before retracting their decision after Israel did not provide evidence for these allegations. .
This was accompanied by a draft law for the Israeli Knesset aimed at classifying UNRWA as a terrorist organization, which sparked widespread international rejection, including from the United States, which stressed the necessity of the agency’s continued role.
According to the Observatory, UNRWA has been a target of Israeli incitement for decades, but this campaign has intensified recently, as the Israeli army’s website did not hesitate to accuse the agency of being infiltrated by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and launching a propaganda campaign questioning its neutrality and effectiveness. .
The moment of collapse
Amid this escalation, Israel continues to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including medicines and food, ignoring repeated international calls to facilitate the flow of this aid.
Lazzarini indicated that UNRWA may be approaching a point at which it cannot continue to provide its services, warning that any cessation of its activities in Gaza will affect the entire United Nations system, which relies heavily on UNRWA services there.
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza escalates, there are growing fears of a complete collapse of the civil order, as the population relies mainly on the services provided by UNRWA, which include education, health and emergency relief.
UNRWA is a United Nations agency established in 1949 to provide relief aid and basic services to about 6 million Palestinian refugees distributed in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
For more than 7 decades, UNRWA has been the main sponsor of Palestinian refugees, providing them with educational, health and social services.