UNRWA teams continued to provide medical services in eight operational health centres and shelters in Gaza.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, the specialized agency for assistance to Palestine refugees, today launched an emergency appeal totalling $1.21 billion in response to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the needs arising from the intensification of violence in the West Bank.
The agency's flash appeal, which covers the humanitarian response until the end of the year, is aimed at meeting the most urgent needs of the 1.7 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the more than 200,000 Palestine refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Filipe Lazzarini, the Agency's Commissioner-General, said: "Supporting UNRWA in providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, as well as health and education development services, is crucial. The past few months had proved that the role of UNRWA was irreplaceable. ”
The backbone
UNRWA was established in 1949 in response to the massive displacement caused by the 1948 Palestinian War and the subsequent conflict, and currently has 6 million Palestine refugees registered with the Agency.
The services provided by the agency include basic education, health services, sanitation, emergency relief, social safety nets and other social interventions, microfinance, housing and other infrastructure support. These services cover Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
UNRWA operates a full-fledged education system, providing education to more than 500,000 children through more than 700 schools. Most of the nearly 30,000 employees are Palestine refugees.
In the aftermath of the clashes between Israel and Hamas forces on 7 October, UNRWA has been working to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Under the pretext of the involvement of the Palestinians working in the body in the terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October, Israel boycotted the body and demanded the dissolution of the body established under the mandate of the General Assembly.
Non-replaceable
Immediately following Israeli allegations of involvement of UNRWA staff in Hamas attacks at the end of January, Lazarini decided to dismiss the staff members concerned and called for a prompt and impartial investigation. Secretary-General António Guterres commissioned two investigations.
Guterres appointed an independent review team, led by former French Foreign Minister Colonna, to conduct a study by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Michelson Institute in Norway and the Danish Institute for Human Rights to investigate the process by which UNRWA ensured the neutrality of its work. On April 22, the Independent Review Panel released its much-anticipated report. The report made 50 recommendations, but noted that the Israeli authorities had not yet provided evidence to substantiate their claim that United Nations staff members were linked to terrorist organizations.
At the same time, the Secretary-General of the United Nations ordered the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the highest oversight body of the United Nations, to investigate the veracity of the Israeli allegations against 12 UNRWA staff members. The OIOS investigation is ongoing.
A day after the independent review team announced its findings, Lazzarini said at a news conference in New York that the agency was committed to implementing the recommendations of the independent review.
However, Lazzarini said that the attack on UNRWA was "not necessarily motivated by the pursuit of neutrality, but primarily aimed at depriving Palestinians of refugee status".
Resumption of contributions
Eighteen countries decided to suspend contributions to UNRWA following Israeli allegations of involvement in Hamas attacks on Israel.
Speaking at a press conference, Lazzarini said several countries had begun to resume funding for UNRWA. He hoped that more countries would resume funding after the publication of the Colonna report and after improvements were introduced. He revealed that UNRWA's current funding could support the Agency's operations until the end of June.
He also disclosed that UNRWA had raised $150 million from the public since the beginning of the year, which he described as "an extraordinary demonstration of grassroots solidarity with the Organization".
Two major concerns
Lazarini said that as the weather warms, there is a high possibility of new disease outbreaks, especially in southern Gaza, where garbage collection is a priority.
In addition, he "noted the deep anxiety that prevailed in the south about the impending military offensive, which seemed to be being brought back to the table".
