‘Hanging by the Thread’ – Head of UNRWA Says World Must End the War

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Lazzarini slammed the international community for trying to replace UNRWA instead of ending the genocide.

Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Sunday that instead of banning the international organization, the world should find a solution to end the war to save the future of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children.

“Instead of focusing on banning UNRWA or finding alternatives, the focus should be on reaching an agreement to end this conflict,” Lazzarini wrote in a post on X.

The UN official slammed the international community for not prioritizing the topic of education of Palestinian children in their deliberations.

Lazzarini stressed that in the absence of a “functioning state” “there is no alternative” to UNRWA.

Children & their education are not featured in any discussions when “experts “ or politicians talk about replacing @UNRWA .

Why?

Because in the absence of a functioning state, there is no alternative.

Until October last year, @UNRWA provided learning to over 300,000 boys &… pic.twitter.com/uuTNZ3xXw6

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) November 3, 2024

In his post, the commissioner-general outlined the essential services the UN organization extends to Palestinians, especially in the field of education.

“Until October last year, @UNRWA provided learning to over 300,000 boys & girls in #Gaza, making half of the school children cohort. They are now losing a second year of education,” Lazzarini wrote.  

“In the #WestBank, nearly 50,000 children go to our schools,” he added.

Lazzarini pointed out that UNRWA is the only UN organization that provides education in UN schools.

“Our schools are the only education system in the region that includes a Human Rights programme and that follows United Nations standards and values,” he emphasized.

UNRWA’s commissioner-general went on to say that “dismantling” the agency’s schools in the absence of a “viable alternative” will “deprive Palestinian children of learning in the foreseeable future.”

Lazzarini depicted a grim image of the future of Palestinian children without education, stressing that the “region will remain unstable & volatile” without learning.

“Without learning, children slip into hopelessness, poverty & radicalization,” he said.

‘Collective Punishment’ – Israel’s Ban on UNRWA Condemned

The commissioner-general added: “Without learning, children fall prey into exploitation including joining armed groups.”

According to Lazzarini without UNRWA, “the fate of millions of people will hang by the thread.”

He concluded by urging the international community to prioritize the future of Palestinian children, “currently living in the rubble”.

“It’s time to prioritize children and their future,” he ended.

Two Bills Targeting UNRWA

Israel’s parliament passed a bill on October 28 banning UNRWA from operating in Israel, which would eventually affect its work in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Marking the first anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, the Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee endorsed on October 7 two bills to halt the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Israel, Israeli media reported.

The Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post indicated that the first bill stipulates that UNRWA cannot “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly” in Israel.

The second instructs to instantly end the agreement between Tel Aviv and the international organization, which was signed following the 1967 war.

The second bill also reportedly annuls the immunity and special rights previously granted to UNRWA staff.

Death Toll on the Rise

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 43,341 Palestinians have been killed, and 102,105 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

 The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety. 

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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