DaysofPal- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that the limited aid entering the Gaza Strip is far from meeting the population’s urgent needs, calling for the immediate opening of all crossings to allow unrestricted humanitarian access.
Inas Hamdan, head of UNRWA’s media office in Gaza, revealed that the agency currently has the equivalent of 6,000 truckloads of essential humanitarian supplies stranded in Jordan and Egypt, awaiting permission to enter the besieged enclave.
She urged an end to the blockade on UNRWA’s assistance, emphasizing that the scale of need in Gaza is “enormous and unprecedented.”
Earlier this year, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned the UN Security Council that Israel’s ban on the agency’s activities would place the lives of millions of Palestinians at risk, stressing that targeting UNRWA “harms millions of refugees who rely on it for survival.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN later announced that Tel Aviv would sever all contact with UNRWA and any affiliated bodies, accusing the agency of threatening Israel’s security, claims that remain unsupported by evidence.
Despite severe restrictions, UNRWA continues to operate seven health centers and 31 mobile medical units in Gaza, providing more than 15 million medical consultations since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023.
The agency also manages over 70 shelters housing approximately 70,000 displaced people, while maintaining water supply and waste removal services for 1.4 million residents.
Hamdan added that UNRWA’s psychosocial support teams have reached more than 730,000 displaced individuals, including over half a million children, highlighting the immense psychological toll of the ongoing conflict.
Education remains one of Gaza’s hardest-hit sectors. Following the near-total destruction of the enclave’s educational infrastructure, UNRWA launched remote learning for 300,000 students on October 18, 2025, alongside in-person activities in 458 temporary learning spaces across 67 shelters.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, the Israeli occupation has completely destroyed 165 schools and universities and partially damaged 392 others since the start of the war. Many surviving school buildings are now used as shelters for hundreds of thousands of displaced families, rendering regular education impossible.
Hamdan emphasized that UNRWA remains the largest humanitarian organization operating in Gaza, employing 12,000 local staff who have continued their work throughout the conflict. She stressed the need for a comprehensive relief plan to ensure aid enters at a scale proportional to the population’s basic needs.
Founded in 1949 by a UN General Assembly mandate, UNRWA provides education, health, and relief services to 5.7 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
Since the Israeli occupation launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 8, 2023, the assault, supported by the United States, has killed 67,869 Palestinians and injured 170,105 others, the majority of them women and children.
The resulting famine has claimed 463 additional lives, including 157 children.
Although a ceasefire and prisoner-exchange agreement took effect on October 10, 2025, Israeli forces have continued to violate its terms, further complicating the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.
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