UN agencies, NGOs appeal for UNRWA says ‘We cannot abandon people of Gaza’

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 1st Feb. Top humanitarians and NGO chiefs on Wednesday warned of the “catastrophic consequences” of defunding UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees facing allegations of collusion with Hamas as deadly clashes and shelling continued in Khan Younis in southern Gaza overnight into Wednesday.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee said that despite the “horrifying” allegations that 12 UNWRA staff were involved in the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel on 7 October, “we must not prevent an entire organization from delivering on its mandate to serve people in desperate need”.

IASC panel head Martin Griffiths said that regional collapse “Withdrawing funds from UNRWA would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, with far-reaching humanitarian and human rights consequences in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and across the region.”

 

IASC Principals said hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless and “on the brink of famine”, since Israeli bombardment and a ground invasion began after the Palestinian militants butchered some 1,200 people in Israeli communities and took more than 250 others hostage.

UNRWA the largest aid agency in Gaza whose key role in education, healthcare and more in the enclave dates back to 1949 – provides a lifeline to more than two million people in Gaza. 

The group noted that its future is in jeopardy after several major donors halted funds pending probes into Israel’s allegations that 12 of the agency’s 30,000 staff played a role in the 7 October attacks. 

A full and urgent investigation is underway by the Office of Internal Oversight Services the IASC chiefs said.

They noted that UNRWA had announced an independent review of its operations.

“Decisions by various Member States to pause funds for UNRWA will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza,” the IASC statement continued.

“No other entity has the capacity to deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need.”

In its latest humanitarian update, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, noted that the death toll in Gaza since continuing “intense” Israeli bombardment began had now risen to at least 26,751, according to the Gaza health authorities.

OCHA reported that hostilities continued to be “particularly intense” in the southern city of Khan Younis,  “with heavy fighting reported near Nasser and Al Amal hospitals, and reports of Palestinians fleeing to the southern town of Rafah, which is already overcrowded, despite the lack of a safe passage”.

Ground operations and clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups were also reported across much of Gaza, OCHA noted, with new evacuation orders issued to neighbourhoods in western Gaza city on Monday and Tuesday, including Ash Shati Refugee Camp, Rimal Ash Shamali and Al Janubi, Sabra, Ash Sheikh ‘Ajlin, and Tel Al Hawa.

OCHA said “The new order covered an area of 12.43 square kilometers. This area was home to almost 300,000 Palestinians before 7 October and, subsequently, 59 shelters with an estimated 88,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) seeking refuge there,”.

Mass evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military that began on 1 December cover a total of 158 square kilometres, amounted to 41 per cent of the Gaza Strip.

According to OCHA “This area was home to 1.38 million Palestinians before 7 October and, subsequently, it contained 161 shelters hosting an estimated 700,750 IDPs,”.

As of 30 January, 218 Israeli soldiers have been confirmed killed and 1,283 injured, cited the Israeli military.

The OCHA update reported that past week has seen “large numbers of Palestinian men” detained by the Israeli military at a checkpoint in Khan Younis “with many of them stripped to their underwear, blindfolded and taken away”.

OCHA reported that vulnerable populations in northern and central Gaza are increasingly beyond reach because of “an increasing trend in denied and restricted access”.

“The reasons include excessive delays for humanitarian aid convoys before or at Israeli checkpoints and heightened hostilities in central Gaza. Threats to the safety of humanitarian personnel and sites are also frequent, impeding the delivery of time-sensitive and life-saving aid and pose serious risks to those involved in humanitarian efforts,” it added.

The 14 IASC signatories to the appeal are: 

Martin Griffiths, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Jane Backhurst, Chair, ICVA (Christian Aid) 

Jamie Munn, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) 

Amy E. Pope, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM) 

Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 

Paula Gaviria Betancur, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (SR on HR of IDPs) 

Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 

Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 

Michal Mlynár, Executive Director a.i., United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) 

Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women 

Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)