GAZA —
UNRWA
announced that the "huge" humanitarian needs of over two million
people in the
Gaza Strip are at risk of increasing as a result of 16 donor
countries' decision to cease financial support for the agency.
اضافة اعلان
Based on UNRWA’s statement, Al-Mamlaka TV reported
that UNRWA's financing has been halted by $440 million.
UNRWA stated that now is
the time to enhance, not diminish, the organization, especially while Israel's
bombardment on the besieged sector continues "relentlessly" and the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) calls for increased humanitarian supplies
to the Strip.
Nearly two million
people in Gaza, mostly women and children, depend on UNRWA to stay alive, where the
agency manages crowded shelters, food aid, and primary health care.
"I reiterate UN
Secretary-General António Guterres' appeal to restart funding for UNRWA. If
financing continues to be suspended, we will most likely have to suspend our
operations by the end of February, not only in Gaza but throughout the region,"
stressed UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
After Israel's accusations
surfaced, Lazzarini decided to fire the accused employees immediately and
launch an investigation. If the charges are proven, the process is supposed to
result in complete accountability and openness.
UNRWA's statement went on
to say that tens of thousands of Palestinians were forced to evacuate to
southern Gaza last week due to shelling and fighting in Khan Yunis, adding to
the sector's already over-crowded southern
Rafah governorate of 1.4 million inhabitants.
It stated that the
majority of the displaced people live in temporary shelters, tents, or in the
open, and they are now concerned that they will not receive any food or other
humanitarian relief from UNRWA.
The humanitarian situation
in Gaza is deteriorating as the war continues, and the entrance of humanitarian
aid is severely constrained. Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza,
described Rafah as a "sea of people" displaced by the bombing.
According to the
statement,
UNRWA has had very limited access in the north, where starvation
looms, since the start of the war.
White stated that UNRWA
got a tip indicating that Palestinians are grinding bird feed to make alternatives to flour.
He stated that the
organization is working with the
Israeli occupation force to be permitted to
travel north, but "that has been largely rejected."
"When UNRWA convoys
are allowed to go to the area, people rush to the trucks to bring food and
often eat it immediately," he said. "It is difficult to imagine that
the people of Gaza will survive this crisis without UNRWA."
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