Philippe Lazzarini, Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Monday that Israel had refused him passage to the Gaza Strip, “while famine is about to spread” in the northern Strip.

This came in his post on the “X” platform, following a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo.

Lazzarini added: “The Israeli authorities prevent me from entering Gaza,” pointing out that “famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip.”

The director of the UN agency said in the press conference broadcast by the private “Cairo” channel, and followed by Anatolia, that he intended to go to Rafah today, Monday, but he was informed an hour ago that entry was denied.

Shukry added, during the same press conference: “To be clear and clear, it was the Israeli government that prevented it, not Egypt, and this is an unprecedented position against a UN official.”

Shukri stressed the importance of the agency’s continued work to continue its responsibility towards Palestine, warning the international community of the danger of its disappearance.

There was no immediate comment from Israel regarding what Lazzarini announced until 15:20 (UTG).

Since January 26, 18 countries and the European Union have suspended their funding to the UN agency, against the backdrop of Israeli allegations that a number of its employees participated in the attack on settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip on October 7, while the agency announced that it was investigating those allegations.

The Israeli allegations against UNRWA come at a time when Tel Aviv has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip since that date, causing it to appear before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing “genocide,” after the war left tens of thousands of civilian victims, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Unprecedented and massive destruction of infrastructure.

UNRWA was established by a decision of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949, and was mandated to provide assistance and protection to refugees in its five areas of operations, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, until a just solution to their issue is reached.