DaysofPal- Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), has called on all United Nations member states to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to facilitate unrestricted UN humanitarian operations, including those of UNRWA.
Lazarini’s appeal follows a new UN inquiry report that concluded Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.
In a post on the platform X on Wednesday, Lazzarini noted that instead of cooperating with the United Nations, the Israeli occupation responded by “banning and excluding the UN’s main humanitarian agency, UNRWA.”
He cited the UN commission’s findings, which stated that Israel, through “interconnected political and politicized measures”, including the creation of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), blocked and obstructed trusted relief agencies, including UNRWA, from delivering essential life-saving aid.
The report argued these actions were aimed at causing the “physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza through unlivable conditions.”
The commission also stressed that U.S. backing has enabled the Israeli occupation to continue its crimes since October 7, 2023, which it classified as genocide.
According to the report, the war has resulted in 65,062 Palestinian deaths and 165,697 injuries, most of them women and children.
The Israeli siege has also triggered famine that has killed 432 people, including 146 children.
Lazzarini urged the international community to act decisively to enforce international law, ensure humanitarian access, and end what he described as one of the gravest humanitarian catastrophes in recent history.
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