Head of UN agency for Palestinian refugees calls for investigation into Israel’s attacks on the United Nations

Philippe Lazzarini spoke to the press on Tuesday at UN headquarters in New York, following the report published Monday highlighting the lack of political “neutrality” of the UN humanitarian agency

“An independent investigation. This is what the Commissioner General of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) demanded on Tuesday April 23 from the Security Council on Israel’s attacks against the United Nations. Since the start of the war in October, 180 employees have been killed in the Gaza Strip.

Philippe Lazzarini spoke to the press at UN headquarters in New York, following the report of independent experts led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna. This group pointed out on Monday the lack of “neutrality” policy of the UN humanitarian agency, but recognized that it was “irreplaceable” for the 5.9 million Palestinians in the region.

“I have called on the members of the Security Council for an independent investigation into accountability for the blatant disregard for UN premises, UN personnel and UN operations in the Gaza Strip.”hammered Philippe Lazarrini. “As of today, 180 UNRWA staff have been killed, last week there were 178, and more than 160 premises have been damaged or completely destroyed.”he detailed.

White House demands “real progress” before reactivating funding

UNRWA, which has more than 30,000 employees across the region, is accused by Israel of employing “more than 400 terrorists” in the Gaza Strip, including twelve who are said to be directly involved in the unprecedented attack of October 7. These allegations have led to the suspension of funding from donors, such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

Some 450 million dollars are thus frozen at a time when the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe and need emergency aid, according to the Commissioner General of UNRWA. The European Union on Tuesday called on donors to continue their support for the agency. The White House, for its part, pleaded for “real progress” before reactivating its financing, frozen until 2025. Philippe Lazzarini committed Monday evening to “implement the recommendations” of the report with the aim of resolving the “neutrality issues”.