DaysofPal- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has revealed that it has lost 360 staff members in Gaza since the outbreak of the Israeli war on the territory last October, underscoring what officials describe as one of the heaviest tolls ever borne by a UN humanitarian agency.
Marking World Humanitarian Day, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini paid tribute to the agency’s frontline workers, stressing that they “have not given up despite the daily hell they endure.”
According to Lazzarini, many of those killed died while on duty, hundreds more have been wounded, and at least 50 employees were detained or held by Israeli forces, with some allegedly subjected to torture before their release.
Lazzarini reaffirmed UNRWA’s commitment to serving Palestinian refugees “until a just solution is reached” and said the agency would continue its mission despite mounting challenges.
The deaths come as the Israeli occupation has stepped up measures to curtail UNRWA’s operations.
In October 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed laws banning the agency from carrying out any activities within areas under Israeli sovereignty, stripping it of privileges granted since 1967, and forbidding official Israeli contact with the UN body.
Rights experts warn that efforts to dismantle UNRWA are part of a broader campaign to delegitimize the agency.
“It started with questioning its efficiency, then demonizing it as a terrorist body, and now accusing it of complicity in the events of October 7,” said Nidal Azza, director of the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights.
The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, backed by the United States, has left 62,004 Palestinians dead and 156,230 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. More than 9,000 remain missing, while famine conditions have claimed the lives of 263 people, including 112 children.
Despite international outcry and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt its military campaign, the Israeli occupation continues to press on, leaving Gaza in what humanitarian agencies describe as a state of “unprecedented catastrophe.”
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