UNITED NATIONS, Feb 25 : The United Nations General Assembly President, Dennis Francis, has called on UN member states to provide \u201csustainable and predictable financial and political support\u201d to UNRWA, the largest UN aid agency operating in besieged Gaza. Francis, responding to a letter from UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, said \u201cUNRWA has been an indispensable lifeline for millions of Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n
UNRWA, which provides healthcare, education and other vital services to the Palestinian people, currently struggles to address the \u201cbiggest humanitarian crisis since its establishment\u201d. The agency was accused by Israel last month of having links to the October 7 operation by the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, against the occupying power. The Israeli allegations against UNRWA, which were not publicly backed by evidence, have prompted more than 10 donor countries, including the United States, Germany, the European Union, Canada, and Japan, to suspend financial support. The funding from these countries makes up the bulk of all funding received by the UN agency. UNRWA said being cut off in this way means the agency will run out of money altogether within weeks. A US intelligence assessment recently cast doubt on Israel\u2019s accusations against UNRWA, citing Israel\u2019s bias against the UN agency. UNRWA is facing a crisis after Israel accused some of its members of being affiliated with Hamas. The National Intelligence Council (NIC) report released last week assessed with \u201clow confidence\u201d that a handful of UNRWA staffers had taken part in the October 7 operation. Separately, the UN agency in a post on X said shelters in the besieged coastal region were severely overcrowded. \u201cClean water is scarce. Solid waste is accumulating. Spread of diseases is on the rise,\u201d UNRWA said. \u201cThe situation is catastrophic, but UNRWA teams continue working to provide critical aid.\u201d A two-month-old Palestinian baby has died from starvation in northern Gaza, according to media reports, as Israel is accused of using starvation as a weapon of war. The developments come amid reports that people in Gaza have been facing a humanitarian crisis and starvation as Israel has continued relentless bombardment and blocked the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid. Samer Abdeljaber, the World Food Programme\u2019s (WFP\u2019s) director for emergencies, says there is enough food stocked up across Gaza\u2019s borders to feed the entire population, but it cannot safely reach the war-hit population due to the extensive checks by Israeli forces. \u201cWe have enough food across the borders, even from Jordan and Egypt, to be able to support 2.2 million people,\u201d said Abdeljaber. \u201cBut we need to make sure we have the right access to Gaza from different crossings so that we can actually reach the people \u2013 whether they are in the north or the south or in the central areas.\u201d He noted that the WFP hoped to specifically resume operations in the north of Gaza, where it has had to suspend work due to the unsafe conditions but where there are \u201clots of people in need\u201d. On the 142nd day of the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza, fresh Israeli strikes on the ravaged strip leave nearly 100 Palestinians dead, as the death toll from the onslaught is fast approaching 30,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 25 : The United Nations General Assembly President, Dennis Francis, has called on UN member states to provide \u201csustainable and predictable financial and political support\u201d to UNRWA, the largest UN aid agency operating in besieged Gaza. Francis, responding to a letter from UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, said \u201cUNRWA has been an indispensable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-389710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n