Preventing UNRWA from operating in northern Gaza Strip deepens famine: Palestine

Israel's decision to prevent the UN agency for Palestinian refugees or UNRWA from operating in northern Gaza is "deepening the famine and eliminating the rights of refugees," the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late Sunday.

The ministry condemned in its statement the decision by Israeli authorities to no longer approve the passage of the agency's food convoys into the region, considering it "very dangerous, as it will deepen the famine and murders through starvation and thirst."

The ministry also saw the decision as "a direct threat to a prestigious and credible UN institution that serves the issues of Palestinian refugees and is concerned with their rights, not only in the occupied Palestinian territory, but also for Palestinian refugees in the region, especially their right to return."

"It is clear that the Israeli government is targeting UNRWA and working to destroy it, kill its staff, and render it ineffective in order to change the identity of the Strip so that it becomes without inhabitants…within the framework of the occupation's war to liquidate the Palestinian cause," it added.

The ministry urged the international community and the US administration to seriously confront "this dangerous Israeli decision which entails the killing and displacement of civilians" and to intervene immediately to halt its implementation before it is too late.

"Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

"This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine," he added.

Israel has accused 12 of UNRWA's 30,000 employees of involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Several Western countries, including the US, suspended their funding to the UN refugee agency pending investigations into the Israeli allegations.

The European Union, Canada and Sweden, however, later announced that they would proceed with funding for UNRWA as Israel has yet to present any evidence publicly to support its allegations.

UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly more than 70 years ago to assist Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their land.

The agency provides crucial support to millions of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other areas where large numbers of registered Palestinians live.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,200 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,500 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.