The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that the full implementation of the Israeli Knesset legislation on the agency would be “catastrophic,” warning that reducing UNRWA’s operations outside a political process, and at a time when trust in the international community is extremely low, would undermine the ceasefire in Gaza.

Briefing the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, on Tuesday, Lazzarini stressed that “the Agency is essential to support the devastated population and to achieve a ceasefire. However, in two days, our operations in the occupied Palestinian territory will be disrupted, as legislation passed by the Israeli Knesset enters into force.”

He warned that the fate of millions of Palestinians, the ceasefire and the prospects for a political solution that would bring lasting peace and security are at stake.

He explained that "undermining UNRWA operations in Gaza would jeopardize the international humanitarian response. It would also degrade the capacity of the United Nations at a time when humanitarian assistance should be significantly increased. This would exacerbate the already catastrophic living conditions of millions of Palestinians."

He pointed out that the Israeli government claims that UNRWA services can be transferred to other entities, stressing that the agency's mandate to provide public services to an entire population is a unique mandate.

He also addressed the Israeli government's claim that UNRWA plays a negligible role in providing humanitarian aid in Gaza, explaining that UNRWA constitutes half of the emergency response, while all other entities provide the other half.

Palestinians know and trust UNRWA, Lazzarini said. For them, UNRWA is the doctors and nurses who provide health care; the workers who distribute food; and the mechanics and engineers who build and repair wells to provide clean drinking water.

Deprivation of education and health care

The UNRWA Commissioner-General said that ending the agency's operations in the occupied West Bank "would deprive Palestinian refugees of education and health care."

He added that in occupied East Jerusalem, the Israeli government ordered UNRWA to evacuate its buildings and cease operations by Thursday, "which would affect approximately 70,000 patients and more than 1,000 students."

He warned that "the ongoing attack on UNRWA harms the lives and future of Palestinians throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, and erodes their trust in the international community, thus jeopardizing any prospect of peace and security."

He pointed out that the legislation passed by the Knesset defies the resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, ignores the rulings of the International Court of Justice, and ignores the fact that UNRWA is the mechanism established by the General Assembly to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees, pending a political response to the Palestine issue.

“The implementation of this legislation makes a mockery of international law and imposes enormous restrictions on UNRWA’s operations,” Lazzarini said. “We are determined to remain and provide services until it becomes impossible to do so, without endangering our Palestinian colleagues, who face an exceptionally hostile working environment fueled in part by a vicious disinformation campaign.”

"The absurdity of anti-UNRWA propaganda"

“The Israeli government invests significant resources in portraying the agency as a terrorist organization, and its staff as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers,” the UN official noted. “The absurdity of the anti-UNRWA propaganda does not diminish the threat it poses to our staff, particularly those in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, where 273 of our colleagues have been killed,” he said.

He added that the campaign sets a precedent for governments to accuse a UN entity of terrorism as a pretext to suppress human rights.

He warned that "the political attacks on the agency are motivated by a desire to strip the Palestinians of their refugee status, and thus change the long-established parameters of a political solution. The goal is to deny the Palestinian refugees the right to self-determination and erase their history and identity."

He explained that the ceasefire in Gaza must be followed by a political transition that includes an orderly end to UNRWA's mandate and the handover of its public services to capable and willing Palestinian institutions.

The UNRWA Commissioner-General said they had a clear choice: either allow UNRWA to collapse due to Knesset legislation and the suspension of funding by major donors, “or we can instead allow the agency to gradually end its mandate within the framework of a political process.”

Lazzarini took the opportunity to stress the agency's long-standing commitment to impartiality, adding: "We will also continue to take all necessary steps to investigate credible allegations against the agency and its staff."

The Security Council called on the Knesset to resist the implementation of the Israeli Knesset legislation, to insist on a real political path forward that defines UNRWA’s role as a provider of education and health care, and to ensure that the financial crisis does not abruptly end UNRWA’s life-saving work.

A message from a young Palestinian

The UN official concluded his briefing by reading a letter he received from a young man from Gaza, who said: “I am writing to you from the ruins of a home that was once a place of warmth and life. Now, I spend my days searching for basic necessities, like flour to feed my family. What truly breaks me is my helplessness in front of the children. Their innocent eyes search for the safety that I cannot provide, and the answers that I do not have. Here I die a thousand times every day thinking about everything I cannot do for them.”

Unlike the author of that letter, “we are in a position to do something,” Lazzarini told the Security Council members. “It only requires your decisive action and your leadership.”